Chapter Seventy-five: Peace

For the first time in a long time, Chibi-Usa's soul was settled. No longer plagued with worry or the feeling of inferiority, but filled with a sense that everything was going to be okay.

Even though Helios was gone. But King Neptune afforded her a chance to find him.

Now that Dead Moon was defeated, Nehellenia frozen inside Queen Serenity's prison for eternity, Elysion shined. A golden hue surrounded the temple, every building, the planet, even the citizens and priests. The people looked content. Surrounded with the glow of happiness.

Several greeted her as she ran past, toward the temple. Chibi-Usa returned hurried greetings. She ran up the temple's stairs two at a time. Like her mother, Chibi-Usa wasn't athletic, but the prospect of saving her friends transformed her into a world-class athlete.

She pushed open the doors. Several priests and maenads praying at the altars twitched. So focused were they on hearing from their gods that they didn't let the distraction break their reverie.

A part of Chibi-Usa regretted bursting through the doors, but the other part was too desperate for Helios to care.

How badly she wanted to call Helios' name, but she'd disturbed the priests and maenads enough. The gods that Elysion's citizens worshipped could be capable of unleashing worse punishments than King Neptune.

Chibi-Usa slowed into a brisk walk. She studied each face, searching for those discerning, warm red eyes. His silver-white hair denoting wisdom.

Crystals were suspended near the temple's altar, with priests and maidens hovering inside. Should she save them?

Priests walked to the crystals, smiling.

"They've saved Elysion." One glanced at Chibi-Usa. "Nehellenia is no more."

The priests bowed to the princess. A blush bloomed up Chibi-Usa's neck, to her cheeks. She'd never been bowed to until her own Guardians had awakened.

"Thank you, young maiden, for saving our kingdom. We will never forget your mercy."

"I-it wasn't just me. My friends had plenty to do with it. More than I did." Why should only she get the credit? She may be a princess, but she was no better than anyone else.

"We will thank them deeply when they come."

Chibi-Usa didn't know what to say. A swathe of emotions passed through her. Humility, gratefulness. A wonder why the people liked her so much when they barely knew her. For all they knew, she could've broken Dead Moon's spell over Elysion to take advantage of it herself.

She was sorry to break the moment but said, "Do you know where Helios is?"

Several of the priests shifted from side to side, averted their gazes. Oh, no.

"We haven't seen him since Nehellenia was defeated."

Chibi-Usa's heart dropped. King Neptune couldn't have not kept his promise. He seemed earnest. Genuinely liked the group. No reason for him to trick her, unless he took pleasure in watching people's hearts rend.

Unless he hadn't been powerful enough. His ego would keep him from admitting the limits of his powers.

Perhaps Elysion's gods were powerful enough.

Chibi-Usa could count the number of times she'd prayed in her life. Didn't know how to pray. Didn't know the right state of mind to pray in. Didn't know if the words she threw up would come back down. With Dead Moon gone, with King Neptune possibly deceiving her, she had only one alternative.

She kneeled at the altar.

Chibi-Usa clasped her hands so tightly that she threatened to rupture the skin. She shut her eyes, drowned out the silence of the temple and the stares of the people. Her saving Helios was greater than what others thought about her.

If she knew one thing about prayer, it was that most prayed silently. She would not. She'd make sure that the gods heard her. "Please." She'd grown hoarse, but she pressed on. "Please, you must've seen us save the world from Dead Moon. Including a world that wasn't our own. We stayed and saved Bikini Bottom when we could've left. That has to count for something." She tightened her clasp. "Have mercy upon Helios, my fellow Guardians, the sea creatures, no matter what they've done. No matter what I've done. If I've angered you in some way. If my friends have angered you. Please, punish me instead. Not them. I'll take the brunt of every punishment, whatever way you need to balance out the injustice in the world. I ask you, please do this one thing for me: bring your faithful servant, Helios, back. He's always served you. Even when the world was falling apart around him, he never lost his trust in you. Reward his trust. If not for me or him, then for the world. This world is a better place with him in it."

A warm glow blossomed upon her chest. Flourished around her, doming her. Almost like the gods were hugging her.

Her. Someone who hardly prayed, not even when she needed something. Who didn't know the names of any gods, except Helios. Who had never attended a worship service or praised any gods.

Someone tapped her shoulder.

She looked. He shimmered in a golden light, brighter than the other citizens.

"They hear you, my maiden."

Chibi-Usa threw her arms around him. She wept on his shoulder, barely able to get out the promise that she'd never let him go.

"I'll never let you go, either." He drew her closer to him. "So please don't cry." A refrain that defined their relationship.

She couldn't help but laugh. A deep, belly laugh, one she hadn't had in countless weeks. "It's okay, Helios. I'm crying because I'm the happiest I've been in a long time."

"Me, too." He closed his eyes and kissed her. Chibi-Usa's eyes widened, but she closed them, too. To etch the beauty of her reunion with Helios upon her heart so she'd never forget.

The pink glow around her grew, melding with Helios' golden glow.

They drew back. Between them floated a pink crystal.

The Pink Moon Crystal, Small Lady, Diana told her from somewhere far away, the cat's voice echoing in her mind. As Luna's and Artemis' daughter, she shared their telepathic powers, the powers they gained with the Guardians they were closest to. It's your own Sailor Crystal. With your powers and feelings flowing through it, you awakened your knight.

Not King Neptune. Chibi-Usa had awakened him. King Neptune had simply opened the way for her to save him. Perhaps the gods had, too.

Helios cupped his hands around the crystal, and Chibi-Usa did the same, their fingertips brushing. They rested their foreheads upon each other.

"You saved me, Usagi." He took her hands. "All along, you really were my maiden."

She drew him to her once more and lost herself within.

One minute later, a month later, years later, she let go of Helios. "I'm sorry. My friends are waiting for me. We'll be able to spend more time together in the future, won't we?"

"We will. I would like to see your friends before we go. I have an apology to make."

Chibi-Usa cocked her head. "Why? You've never done anything bad."

"We've all done something bad in our lives."

Impossible. Helios is perfection personified, countered Chibi-Usa's naiveté.

Helios led Chibi-Usa outside the temple, some citizens and priests clapping and thanking her for defeating Dead Moon. By the time she and Helios made it outside, another blush had crimsoned her face.

Her friends and parents awaited them at the bottom of the temple's stairs. Unfortunately, the goddess of love stood at the front of the pack, primed to see Chibi-Usa in her blushing glory.

"Ooh, so that's why you two were in there for so long." Minako covered her mouth with her arm in a mock modesty. "Fufufu."

Chibi-Usa scowled. Helios remained stoic. One trait he and Mamoru shared.

"Not even holding hands, and here you are, blushing. Did you find a hidden compartment to do hanky-panky in?" Did Minako have to talk crudely in front of a priest, on holy ground? If she kept it up, she might be struck by lightning that rivaled King Neptune's.

"Please, Sailor Venus," Helios said. "We would never defile our gods by doing such a thing." His soft expression betrayed the hardness in his voice.

"So you think." Minako hugged herself. "Lost in the throes of passion, anything could happen."

"Can confirm." Why couldn't Haruka keep her mouth closed?

"I can't," Michiru said.

Haruka cringed, as did Minako. "Ouch."

Chibi-Usa could hug Michiru for rendering them silent.

Helios stepped forward. "I came to apologize to you."

"You can't blame yourself for not being able to reach us when your powers were weakened," Makoto said.

"It's not that, I'm afraid." He started to run his hands through his hair, realized what he was doing and stopped. "It has more to do with what happened in Kelp Forest, with the magic conch shell. When I was weakened, I was doing everything I could to reach you, give you clues, and reassure Chibi-Usa."

Chibi-Usa's face grew hotter, bursting into flames.

"I had enough power to take control of something in the underwater world. Most importantly, to speak through it and give you clues. The weakest thing I found was a plastic conch shell."

Gasps rippled among the Guardians, SpongeBob, Patrick.

"The shell was you?" Ami said.

"You were the shell?" Sandy said.

"Oh my God." Minako staggered backward, pointing at Helios. "That was you? I almost threw you in fire." At Chibi-Usa's and SpongeBob's horrified expressions and Patrick's murderous one, she raised her hands. "Sorry, guys."

"You've tarnished the magic conch shell." Patrick cracked his knuckles. "Such an act is worthy to be punished."

SpongeBob spread an arm in front of the starfish. "No, this is an act that's worthy to be praised. He took over a powerful being."

Helios smiled tightly. "I'm a man. A man does not need to be praised."

"I'll say." Minako balled her hands. "Especially when you frustrated us so many times."

"I wasn't powerful enough to stay in control of the shell the entire time. Hence why I could give you clues sometimes but not other times."

"That makes sense." Ami cupped her chin. "The reason why the shell had known a lot but been useless other times was because Helios hadn't been sustaining it with his powers all the time. He wasn't answering through it every time because his powers weren't always flowing through it so he could answer."

"Oh." This time, a blush blossomed on Minako's cheeks. "Well, excuse me."

On his knees, SpongeBob shuffled to Helios' feet and bowed, pressing his head to the ground. Several citizens stared; they'd seen only their gods bowed to, never a man. "You must truly be a powerful being, Sir Helios, to have overtaken such a powerful object as the magic conch shell. We must worship you."

Helios didn't quite smile, unsure whether smiling would be appropriate. "Please stand up."

A laugh shook Elysion. Citizens looked around, but none screamed or ran. Evidence of the peace and reassurance their gods gave them.

A figure etched itself into the dark sky, sparkled, and then materialized into King Neptune. The citizens gawked, and SpongeBob said, "Wow." Thankfully, no one attacked the god.

"I love it," King Neptune said. "I have been entertained watching you all. And had quite the learning experience. I tell you, I was expecting the entertainment, but I wasn't expecting to learn so much from you."

He floated to the Sailor Team. "I started to give you one in Dead Moon, but I'd like to more formally give you one now that we aren't distracted by war. I'm sorry for the way I treated you."

The group gasped, Minako gasping exaggeratedly. Setsuna raised an eyebrow at her.

"I know, I know. Don't make such a big deal out of a god apologizing to rats." In one sentence, he'd demoted them from mice to rats.

"When you sat by your friends while they were dreaming. When you waited for them…" He wiped his eye. "Such a beautiful sight to behold." He turned toward Michiru. "And you, you learned how to control your powers. You were determined to make it work, all to help Plankton. The little sponge has taught me things, but you have, too.

"Michiru Kaiou…Sailor Neptune. I am honored that you share my name. I offer you the same powers that I offered my little sponge friend long ago, when he defeated me in my own Poseidome. Your powers—my powers. No, our powers, they will become a permanent part of you. Not only will you be able to summon the sea, like you could as a lowly Guardian, but you'll also be able to see the past, present, and future simultaneously, with all the possibilities passing in front of you. You'll retain control over Bikini Bottom, having the privilege of ruling alongside me."

"A far cry from destroying me. I'm guessing my reign over Bikini Bottom was satisfactory?"

"More." King Neptune clasped his hands behind his back. "At first, I made you a god to satisfy my own ego, but I also did it because I wanted to see more. How you handled adversity on top of adversity. Being a god, contrary to popular belief, makes things harder. Because then you have choices to make that'll affect the very foundations of the world. That's why you gain the power of circumspection, the ability to see every possibility, so you can make the best decision. You, like SpongeBob, are responsible enough to handle anything. I can entrust you with Bikini Bottom." He crossed his arms. "Enough of my talking. Your answer?"

Michiru smiled. "Thank you for your offer, but I don't need those powers, to see every possibility." Her smile broadened at the Sailor Team. "Like you said, we can handle anything, powers or no powers. Could you please take my godly powers away?"

King Neptune deflated. "I'm a little disappointed, but I'm not surprised. Just like SpongeBob." He hovered his hands over Michiru. "So be it." A teal light swelled out of the Guardian, absorbed into King Neptune's hands. Michiru bit her tongue. Felt like her insides were being pulled out.

King Neptune swiped his hands. "All done."

"Thank you. Much better, having the powers I was meant to have. If you don't mind, I would like something else in return."

"Whatever you ask is the least I can do."

Chibi-Usa's mouth fell open. A far cry from the King Neptune who had first presented himself to the Sailor Team in a chorus of lightning.

"A promise to me. To us. To everyone in Bikini Bottom." She summoned her mirror, and it materialized in her hand. Images of Bikini Bottom, its citizens dancing, celebrating the end of the robots' reign, showed within. "That you take good care of them. Always acting in their best interests. Protecting them. Strengthening them through problems and trials and suffering."

"Like you did," King Neptune said softly. He nodded. "Okay. I will. I'll be like you." He grinned. "A mere human." He floated higher. "I should make up somehow for not being the best god. I'll start by returning Billy and Fred safe and sound."

Makoto let out a breath. "Ah, thank goodness. I didn't think we'd ever see Billy and Fred again."

SpongeBob clasped his hands. "Please, Your Godliness, I implore you, heal Fred's leg."

Another laugh. "My little sponge, how I've missed thee. Worthy to be a god yourself. So I offer you again." King Neptune placed his hands on SpongeBob's shoulders, lowering himself to the sponge's level. "Because I've been watching you and your friends, SpongeBob. And I remember that thing you showed me so long ago, when you pulled my Golden Spatula out of the grease, when you were making your one krabby patty to my 1,000. Love, a weird concept that I, a god, couldn't fathom until you showed me throughout your fighting the robots. Showing your love to these alien, fish-devouring humans. And showing your love to even your enemies, like Plankton and Dead Moon. Part of the reason why I never destroyed the robots in one fell swoop—I wanted to keep watching you and your friends. Now, thanks to you, I understand. Every time you were rewarded with a Golden Spatula, it was because you showed love, whether by protecting others or trying to put a smile on their faces. I gave those Golden Spatulas to fish around Bikini Bottom so that they could give them to you as they saw fit. My giving you those powers to defeat SteelPants is my thanks to you. I can make those powers a permanent part of you, if you'd like."

"I, I never thought of it that way." SpongeBob bowed. "Thank you, King Neptune. But again, I have to refuse."

King Neptune's eyebrows arched. "Are you sure you don't want to become a god? You'd make a remarkable one."

SpongeBob straightened his tie, wiggled his eyebrows. "To take a page from your confident handbook, I do believe that I'm already remarkable."

"True, true. But I could make you the god of love. You embody love the most out of anyone I've seen."

Minako didn't bristle at King Neptune stealing her self-proclaimed title. SpongeBob's love was full of purity, empty of all self-interest, the kind of love that made the world a better place.

"If you're worried about leaving your friends, then you can dwell among the people instead of living in Atlantis."

"In all seriousness, I don't think so, Your Godliness." He smiled at his bubble wand, at Patrick, Sandy, the Guardians, Tuxedo Mask, Helios. "What I have is enough." He gazed into Michiru's mirror, where Mr. Krabs unlocked the doors to the crumbling Krusty Krab. "Plus, I'm happy right where I am."

"Still the same old sponge." He slapped SpongeBob's shoulder, slamming the sponge into the ground, only his head sticking out. "Anyhow, to your request. Because you've asked me with purity of heart, as you always do, I shall grant it." He snapped his fingers and then wiped his hands on his tail. "All done."

"Th-that's it?" Ami said.

"You seem to forget that I am a god."

"You certainly remind us enough times," Haruka muttered.

"You've done such good here, I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Fred's leg has been restored, but I like you all so much that I've gone above and beyond. As I said earlier, the robots are gone, too, imprisoned in Atlantis, where they will never be able to break out, free to cause all the chaos they want in a controlled environment. They get to cause chaos, and my people stay safe. Everyone wins. I've restored Bikini Bottom, too. Take a look." He grabbed the air and tore it open, revealing Bikini Bottom. Buildings and homes were intact. Squidward rushed inside his restored tiki. Fish roared with cheers at the restored city, not cut off from head to tail, no bruises blossoming on their butts, no scorch marks dotting them.

Plankton nearly leaped off Karen's shoulder. "What about my Chum Bucket?"

King Neptune regarded Plankton and Karen. "To you, it's important. Some of your most precious memories were there. Like the Poseidome has become a place of great importance for me since I dueled SpongeBob there. Look." He swiped to the right, the outside world moving in tandem, and the Chum Bucket slid into view.

Whole.

Plankton's eye glistened. He broke into a diabolical laugh so he wouldn't cry tears of happiness. "I have a lab again, where I can build all sorts of devices to steal the krabby patty secret formula."

"You don't sound nearly as passionate as you used to," Michiru said.

Plankton shook a fist. "I'm not telling you that I think spending time with Karen is more important than taking over the world. What kind of villain would I be?"

With her cut wires, Karen drew Plankton to her. "Mine."

Haruka crossed her arms. "Boy, are you guys corny."

Eyes appeared on Karen's screen, fluttered at Plankton. "Better corny than apart."

Haruka gagged. "I'm stuck in a romance novel."

King Neptune cracked his knuckles. "I'll do ya one better."

"No more corniness. Please."

"Not that. Something else." Another snap of the fingers. "That takes care of the ninth dimension and the monkey-horse thing. The ninth dimension's citizens are now safe in Atlantis. Because of all the torture they've been through, I've brought them to the paradise that is Atlantis, where they'll live in luxury, never having to fear torment. The monkey-horse is imprisoned with the robots, where they'll be free to unleash their chaos upon the monkey-horse as they please. The monkey-horse will also feast on bricks, with a side of sharp tacks. It will take showers consisting of ice cubes. It will be allowed to sleep only one hour per night. The same things it made its citizens endure."

"That's a little harsh, King Neptune," SpongeBob said.

King Neptune plucked SpongeBob out of the ground. "What would you do differently?"

"You're asking me?"

"I am. You can be—dare I admit—wiser than I. On rare occasions. In certain matters."

SpongeBob grinned. "Thank you. I am honored that you seek my counsel. Could you at least let him sleep in a plush pink room?"

Haruka's expression turned ghastly. "That's worse than a cell."

"Great idea." Another snap of the fingers. "It is finished. Now, what do you say we get you back to Bikini Bottom?" He gestured toward the opening. "After you."

The group, Helios guiding Chibi-Usa by the hand, walked through, from the dreamlike goldenness of Elysion to the bright optimism of Bikini Bottom.

Billy, who was walking by, brightened at the Sailor Team. He rushed toward them. "You're back. I thought I lost you."

"That's our line," Makoto said.

"What in tarnation happened to you and Fred?" Sandy said.

"Y'know, being captured by robots, the usual. They really liked my biscuits, so that kept them from turning us into robots. I told them that, as a robot, I wouldn't be able to bake any more biscuits." He spread his arms. "Look. Everything's back to normal."

Citizens smiled, laughed, lived without care, no longer weighed down by the burdens that had been the robots.

"Everything's better than normal," SpongeBob said. "Everything's…peachy."

"Just so," Patrick said.

"Everything's back to the way it was." Usagi played with her hands. Smiled sadly at SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy, taking in Bikini Bottom one more time. "I guess…that means that it's time for us to go."

SpongeBob nudged Usagi. "Hey, don't look like that. You guys are leaving this place better than it was when you came. Thank you for saving us. We couldn't have done it without you."

"Same to you. We would've been lost without you guys."

"Will we ever see each other again?"

Usagi brightened her voice, trying to hide the sadness and uncertainty within. "Of course we will, SpongeBob." The "how" was to be determined.

"How?"

"Um, well, that is…" She laughed, trying to make herself and SpongeBob feel better, making light of the fact that they may never see one another again. "We'll figure it out."

Chibi-Usa nodded. Her mother would. Her mother always made things work.

"Before everyone does all the sad stuff, Pallas has something she'd like to say." Pallas walked toward Sandy. The squirrel stiffened but stayed where she was. Makoto narrowed her eyes, stepping near Sandy, but the squirrel raised her paw. Makoto stepped back but never took her eyes off Pallas. Perhaps Sandy and Makoto thought of her as PallaPalla, the enemy who had infiltrated dreams, traumatized countless people.

Pallas stayed a respectable distance away. "Pallas is sorry for what she did to you, Sandy."

Sandy didn't flinch. Giving away nothing.

They remained that way, staring at each other, Pallas shifting from side to side. She always bounced up and down, never still. Now, she was having a hard time staying still, both from her natural personality and from her anxiety at Sandy's accepting her apology.

Sandy waved her hand. "Shucks, that's all right. You weren't in control of yourself, any more than a bull seein' red. You couldn't help it. I blame Nehellenia, and that cranky lady's gone now."

Pallas sunk with relief. "Are Pallas and Sandy friends now?"

Sandy approached Pallas, hesitant. "Sure are."

Pallas pulled Sandy into a hug.

"Choking, choking me," Sandy said, voice hoarse. "To death."

Pallas hugged Sandy more tightly. "Pallas loves you, that's all."

"Love me less."

Pallas gave Sandy a final squeeze and then let Sandy go. Sandy breathed.

"My gosh." The squirrel tugged at her collar. "That was tighter than a rattlesnake coilin' ′round a rat."

"Pallas wishes she could've spent more time with you. The way she is now, not the way she was before."

For the first time since being with Dead Moon, no fear laced Sandy's eyes. "Me, too."

Their story couldn't end with having just reconciled. "Couldn't we come back anytime, the same way we came in?" Chibi-Usa said. SpongeBob perked.

Ceres shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. Since we're Guardians now, we don't have our orbs, so we can't use them."

SpongeBob and Chibi-Usa deflated.

"Then how will we get back to the surface?" Ami said.

"Fisheye."

Fisheye placed a hand on his chest. "Me?"

"I sense remnants of Dead Moon's power within you. Enough to get us back home, but not enough to bring us back and forth between the surface and Bikini Bottom. You could come with us, but I understand if you don't. The sea is your home, not a fish tank or the land. If you want, you can stay here. Transformed back into a fish, too, if you want."

"I…" His eyebrows arched at the Sailor Quartet. "You're my family. I've never known anything different. How could I leave you?"

Everyone remained silent. They had no answer to the question that only he could answer.

He reached toward the surface, grasped for it. Couldn't touch it, so he lowered his arm. "I don't belong up there, but I don't feel like I belong down here, either. I never forged relationships with anyone. I kept to myself, trying to survive day to day. I was too afraid that, by getting close to any of the fish, they'd try to take advantage of me or eat me. My species is a rare type of fish, sweet to a shark's tongue and beautiful to the eyes of others. What if other people tried to sell me or use me as an exhibit? I've seen it happen to my friends."

He turned toward SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy. "But you all, you've taught me that you're different. That you like people regardless of who they are. Even if I end up getting burned, maybe it's worth growing close to others. You never know who I'll end up helping."

SpongeBob snapped his fingers. "That's the spirit."

"In fact…" He wrapped his arms around SpongeBob. "Thanks for being patient with me. I'll never forget your kindness, no matter where I end up going."

"Same here. I'll respect whatever decision you make."

He rubbed SpongeBob's arm and then turned to his owners. "You all brought me up there and transformed me into a human and brainwashed me into serving Dead Moon. Well, maybe not brainwashed. I served you partly out of being brainwashed, mostly out of my own free will. Like you all were grateful to Nehellenia, I was grateful to you for giving me a better life, more than purposelessly sucking up water."

"Is that how you really felt?" SpongeBob said. "That's like saying none of the fish have purpose. Do you think that way?"

"I did. Until you showed me that we should take care of one another, SpongeBob, whether they're the same species as us or not. No matter what their species has done to us in the past." He smiled shyly at the Guardians. "They're not all like that." He crouched, sifting the sand through his fingers. "Besides, I wasn't doing anything down here. I was surviving. Not helping anyone. Not doing anything with my life. That's why I was grateful when I was captured and taken to a pet shop on the surface. There, I could make someone happy, even if that someone ended up being a human." He watched the other fish roam about, Billy skip toward his home in the suburbs, waving goodbye to the Team. "Life is so much more than living for ourselves." He nodded at the Sailor Quartet. "I ended up doing bad things because I wanted to serve you all, but at least I had purpose. Maybe I've always had purpose but didn't know how to look for it.

"That's why I'll take you back home. I was the one who sent you down here in the first place. I want to make up for what I did. I'm glad it all turned out okay in the end, but I should never have tried to kill you all. I should never have thought the way I did about humans or sea creatures. You all proved me wrong, and I'll always be grateful for that." He touched SpongeBob's shoulder. "I have this guy to thank especially. Thanks for showing me that humans aren't that bad after all."

"D'aww, I knew everything would end all cuddly-like." SpongeBob snuggled close to Fisheye.

His eyes softened at the sponge. "This may be the last time we see each other for a long time."

Pallas' eyes lit up. "You're coming back to the surface with us?"

Fisheye gazed at the shimmering surface, frown deepening. He shook his head. "Maybe I shouldn't." He looked at each of the Sailor Quartet in turn and then at Sailor Chibi-Moon, standing in the middle. "You all have your duties. I don't anymore."

"That's not true," Pallas said. "You, well, you, um…" She tapped her chin. "What do you do?"

"My purpose was to serve you all but, with your new fancy powers, I'd get in the way. The land was never my home anyhow." He softened at the blueness of Bikini Bottom, the angelfish and goldfish roaming about, living once again. "The sea was. It always was. So I'm going to come back home, like you all."

Pallas' eyes glistened. "Fisheye…" Finally managed, "Pallas will miss you."

"I will, too." He wrung his hands. "I've never had to say goodbye before."

"This isn't goodbye," Vesta said. "We'll visit you somehow."

"Yeah." Doubt shook his voice. He walked toward the Quartet. "I'm not sure how goodbyes go in the human world, but I do see you guys hugging a lot. I've seen that hugs mean 'thank you.' Do hugs mean goodbye, too?"

"They do." Pallas met Fisheye in an embrace. The other sisters joined, and they stayed that way for a long time.

Fisheye turned toward SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy. "So. Do you mind if I tag along with you for a bit, until I can get my sea legs again?"

"You can stay with us as long as you like." SpongeBob fluttered to Fisheye. "We'll be like the four amigos. Five, with Squidward. He'll be thrilled to see that we've added to our happy band."

"Oh, no, I won't." Squidward stepped out from behind the Krusty Krab. "I hate all of you."

Haruka leaned onto her right foot. "Then why did you come out to meet us?"

"Because I want to see the thrilling moment when you all leave. If only you could leave too, SpongeBob."

"I can't breathe up there, Squidward."

"Exactly."

Chibi-Usa's mouth dropped open.

"You don't mean that," Makoto said.

Squidward blinked at her and then turned his attention to the sponge. SpongeBob noticed a red ant on the sand, eat a leaf poking out of the ground. SpongeBob bent, cupped his chin, took a bite. Patrick did the same. They chewed synchronously. SpongeBob screwed up his face, spat out the leaf. Patrick swallowed.

"Sometimes, I do," Squidward said.

"Well, Squidward, I can't say that I'll miss you," Haruka said.

"I can't say the same thing."

Her lips quirked. "I don't know. Distance makes the heart grow fonder."

Squidward's eyes softened at the group. "For the first time in a long time, things are silent around here. Maybe people are finally understanding the greatness of silence now that the robots are gone. I can return to my tiki and fill the world with my beautiful clarinet symphonies."

Haruka winced. "Now I'm really glad we're leaving."

"I'll let that one slide. Because—I can't believe I'm saying this—I'm glad you came down here. Thank you for saving our world."

Minako whistled. "That's the first time I've heard you sound sincere. Warms my heart. You're welcome, Squidward." She shrugged. "We don't need thanks. We were capable of fighting, so we protected those who couldn't."

"You'd be surprised at how many people have the ability to help but don't." Mr. Krabs? "Your helping was noble, especially when you didn't owe us anything."

The crab stood by the long, winding path toward Kelp Forest, Mrs. Puff beside him, her lips pressed into a thin line. The pufferfish gripped his hand, white-finned.

Guiding Mrs. Puff, Mr. Krabs walked toward the group. "Living this life that's been longer than I care to admit, I've found plenty o' people who don't help when they can."

"You helped Eugene and I in Jellyfish Fields and again in Kelp Forest," Mrs. Puff said. "Then you saved Bikini Bottom." She glanced at her tight grip on Mr. Krabs. "Old habits die hard."

"Who can blame you?" Makoto said. "What happened to you was terrible."

"You never dismissed what I've been through. What Mr. Puff went through. For that, I'll always be grateful. I'm sorry for thinking of you all as the same. You've proven that you're nothing but the opposite."

Pallas took a tentative step toward Mr. Krabs and Mrs. Puff. The pufferfish stiffened. Pallas stopped in mid-step, stepped back instead. "I guess Pallas isn't included."

Mrs. Puff said nothing.

"C'mon, Mrs. Puff," Sandy said. "I've already forgiven her. She was brainwashed. Poor gal ain't know what she was doin'."

"Pallas is different now. See?" She spread her arms. "Look at Pallas and her sisters. We're wearing sailor suits. Because we're Sailor Chibi-Moon's Guardians. We froze Nehellenia in ice for eternity so she can't make anyone else do what Pallas did to you."

Mrs. Puff regarded the Quartet. Pallas' frown deepened.

"Pallas is sorry for what she did to you. Can she make it up to you and Sandy? Pallas thinks that she can give other people dreams instead of nightmares now that Nehellenia isn't controlling her. Pallas wants to give you dreams."

"You haven't tried doing this before," Mrs. Puff said. "You might mess up. You might be tricking me into letting you give me a nightmare instead."

Pallas shook her head rapidly. "Pallas isn't, she swears. Please, just one chance. If you start to get nightmares, do whatever you want to Pallas."

"That's a chance I'm willin' to take." Sandy motioned for Mrs. Puff to come. "I'll be right there with ya, Mrs. Puff."

Mr. Krabs took Mrs. Puff's hand, squeezed it. "So will I."

Mrs. Puff bowed her head. "Any funny business, and I'll, I'll…"

Ami raised her hands. "Don't take Mrs. Puff lightly. She almost matched our own power in Jellyfish Fields."

"O-kay," Pallas sang, like injecting dreams was as fun and trivial as playing in the park.

Sandy and Mrs. Puff stepped beside each other. Sandy closed her eyes while Mrs. Puff glared at Pallas. Pallas placed each of her hands on their foreheads. She closed her eyes. Mrs. Puff blinked and then, finally, closed her own.

Mrs. Puff had made sure that Pallas' body language didn't say that she was going to make the pufferfish hallucinate that she'd been turned into a lamp.

She dreamed a different dream.

At the boating school, she taught a classroom full of clones of SpongeBob, the sponge inquisitive, as always. Unlike real life, the hundreds of questions didn't annoy Mrs. Puff, but she answered calmly, like her time was unlimited, like the sponge was the only one who mattered. To him, passing the exam was his ultimate goal, and she was there to help in any way possible, no matter the disruptions to her own life, her not being able to dine out with Mr. Krabs for once. She kept teaching until the sun blazed red, indicating that it was time for SpongeBob to take the boating exam for the umpteenth time.

Sweat poured down Mrs. Puff's forehead—Mr. Krabs' habits were leaking into her—as the pufferfish sat in the boat's passenger seat. SpongeBob grinned. Mrs. Puff smiled shakily. She'd be awake all night, testing the clones that awaited her in the classroom. She gripped the seat, loosing a breath, trying to prepare herself for the inevitable crash.

The inevitable crash never came.

Clone Number One passed. Mrs. Puff could only croak.

SpongeBob had passed? SpongeBob had passed!

Clone Number Two passed. Clone Three, Four, and so on passed.

Every SpongeBob passed.

Wordlessly stunned, she gave each of them their licenses, glad to be rid of SpongeBob once and for all.

No, not glad to be rid of him. Happy for him. His parents had bought him a new boat to replace the one she'd wrecked out of selfishly not wanting to see the sponge again.

One of the clones said, "Don't worry, Mrs. Puff. We'll see each other on the road." He whispered, "Forever."

"F-for…" Should she laugh or cry?

SpongeBob Clone Number 436,768 walked to her and presented a lamp as thanks for helping him pass his driving test.

The lamp.

Mrs. Puff's face twisted. Pallas promised to give the pufferfish a dream, not a nightmare.

The lamp glowed, morphed into the shape of a slightly larger, taller pufferfish.

Mr. Puff.

Mrs. Puff held her husband.

Pallas stretched the dream so that, inside, countless hours passed, letting Mr. and Mrs. Puff spend time together for the first time in decades, while minutes passed in the real world. However she was manipulating time, Mrs. Puff was thankful. Mr. Puff had been abruptly stolen from her, leaving her no time to say goodbye.

Mrs. Puff told him about her life, asked about life in the afterlife.

"It's cold there, ironically enough. We eat, sleep—when we want—drink, and be merry."

Mrs. Puff told her husband about SpongeBob, his loveable persistence. About Mr. Krabs, with her husband glad that she'd moved on. About the humans who had saved their world, dispelling any bitterness and unforgiveness that Mr. Puff held in his heart, doing the same for Mrs. Puff.

She felt lighter. Free. Thanks to Pallas and the Guardians. She would never forget their kindness and patience with her when she was anything but toward them.

"It is time for me to go, my love," Mr. Puff said. "For you to go back. Return to your new love. To your life."

"I don't want to, but I'll be always thinking of you." He was her heart.

The world had faded, brightened into Bikini Bottom, Pallas before her.

Mrs. Puff took Pallas' hands. "Thank you." Her smile broadened at those around her. "Thank you all."

SpongeBob's insides were jelly. Sandy couldn't stop smiling. She'd dreamed that her invention to bring sea creatures and land creatures together had gone right, with land creatures dwelling underwater, her invention breaking the language and size barriers so that they could interact as equals. The scientists critiquing her invention hadn't died at her hands, had praised her endlessly, and humans, fish, and animals lived in harmony for eternity.

SpongeBob wiped a tear from his eye. "That's beautiful, Sandy."

"Ain't it, though?" Sandy pawed at her eyes.

Pallas stood on one foot, trying to fill her craving to balance herself. "Pallas made everything up to you?"

"And more," Sandy said. Mrs. Puff nodded, at a loss for words, she was tearing up so much.

SpongeBob melted even more. He didn't want to say it, but he did anyhow because prodding the humans to leave would be the most unselfish thing to do. "You all have friends and family to get back to up there."

"They've gotta be worried sick about y'all," Sandy said.

The humans were silent. Chibi-Usa rubbed her arm. Hotaru gripped her Glaive more tightly, as if she wanted to plant it in the sand and stay.

"We do." Minako sounded sadder than SpongeBob had ever heard.

"Hey, don't sound so sad. We'll, uh…" SpongeBob peered up at King Neptune. "Your Godliness, could you give them permission to come here and go as they please? Or let us come and go to the surface as we please, to see them?"

King Neptune sighed. "I very well could, young sponge. But there are boundaries between the land and the sea for a reason. Who knows what problems would arise? The humans coming here in the first place and surviving was an anomaly. Gods can break and change the laws, but it wouldn't do good to break the laws for a few. Then, we'd have to break the laws for everybody. The world would be chaos." He tied his hands in a complicated knot. "I'm sorry, but my hands are tied."

SpongeBob's insides dissolved. "This really is goodbye, then."

The humans kept quiet. No one wanted to acknowledge the truth.

"I'll never forget any of you."

"Neither will we," Usagi said.

"To make sure…" SpongeBob tapped his hands against his head, popping out the CD. "Here are your memories of me, Hotaru."

Hotaru stepped to SpongeBob. "All in that CD?"

"That's right." He looked her up and down. "Do you have a slot that I can insert this into?"

Chibi-Usa scrunched her face.

"I…don't think so?" Hotaru said.

"There's gotta be something we can stick this bad boy into. Here, hold this while I figure it out." He gave the CD to Hotaru, and the disk melded into her hand. Hotaru's pupils contracted.

"Hotaru-chan?" Chibi-Usa said.

Hotaru's eyes were open, but she didn't see in the present. "I remember. I remember everything about you, SpongeBob. Your love of krabby patties and your job. Especially your friends. Your laugh. All the things that make you wonderful."

SpongeBob giggled. "I feel all mushy inside." He spread his arms. "Hugs?"

She hugged him. So many hugs that SpongeBob didn't know what to do.

Patrick stepped to Rei, bottom lip quivering. "Now that you've finally proved you're not Manray, it's time for you to go."

"I thought we already…" Rei ran a hand through her hair. "Never mind." She managed a shaky smile. "I'm sorry to leave you, too, Patrick. I wish we could spend more time together."

Minako inhaled sharply, opened her mouth.

Rei raised a hand. "Don't. Say. A word." She smiled once more at Patrick. "I grew from tolerating you to liking you as a friend." She chuckled. "I could never seem to get away from you, but you're the one I needed to work with."

"Me, too," Patrick said. "But I would've chosen to work with you. Even when I thought you were Manray, I still thought you were really cool and smart. Just like me."

For a moment, Rei's smile froze. "You never just tolerated me. You tried to help me as best you could. From now on, I'll do the same for everyone I meet, no matter how much they grate me. No insult to you, Patrick."

"Why would I be insulted?"

Rei broke into a broader smile, showing her teeth. Not quite a grin, but she was never the type to grin. "No reason."

Patrick threw open his arms. Rei stepped to him, giving him the hug that he wanted. She wasn't a hugger, but Patrick had made her one, for him.

Usagi sat, hugging her knees to her chest. "Maybe it was good that Dead Moon transported us down here. To think, we were so distressed, getting used to the way things worked. But we made friends." She winked at King Neptune. "Maybe with a god."

King Neptune tried to regard the humans through half-lidded eyes, disinterested, but his eyes danced. Somewhere along the line, he had grown from tolerating and, in some cases, trying to one-up the Guardians, to liking them. "Yes. With a god."

"None of us will return the same," Setsuna said. "After all my centuries of living, I've never encountered any situation like this. I'm thankful for it."

"We've changed for the better." Makoto nudged Sandy. "Thanks to you all."

Plankton dropped off of Karen's shoulder, walked to Michiru. "Um... I'd, uh, I want to say th-th-than…" He stuck out his tongue. "Again, with these foul words. Feels like eating paste. I can say 'love' but not 'thank you.' Why?"

"You just did, varmint," Sandy said.

Plankton covered his mouth. "Oh. I did. Well." He cleared his throat. "Th-th-thank you. Thank. You. Thank you, Michiru, Thank you for fighting for me." He glanced at SpongeBob. "Thank you for showing me that I had people to fight for me all this time, but I didn't want to acknowledge that I did. Thank you for showing me that I don't have to do everything alone, that there's danger when you try, thinking yourself as better than others. Which is hard not to do, when it's true that you're better than one-hundred percent of the people around you."

Sandy rolled her eyes.

"Thank you for helping me rescue my wife and restore our relationship. Thank you for helping me get my Chum Bucket back. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Now you can't stop saying, 'Thank you.'" Michiru crouched to Plankton's level. "You're welcome." She outstretched a pinky. Plankton shook it.

"I didn't even have to brainwash you to make you help me."

"Of course not. I like you, Plankton. You're my friend."

Plankton cocked his head. "Friend. What's that?" He raised a finger. "Don't answer that. You showed me what friends are. The polar opposite of Krabs." He turned toward SpongeBob. "What SpongeBob is and always has been to me, now that I think about it."

SpongeBob threw his arms around Plankton. Michiru joined him and, together, they smothered him.

"What are you doing to me?" Plankton hacked. "I know. You're suffocating me to death. I knew there was some ulterior motive. Karen, Patrick, vaporize them."

Patrick saluted Plankton. "Aye-aye, sir."

Haruka gripped the starfish's underwear. Patrick ran in place, his underwear stretching under Haruka's grip. "All this time we spent together, and you never learned how to think."

Karen rolled to the three. "Can't you see, Plankton, that they're hugging you?"

"It's painful," Plankton ground out.

"Maybe we're hugging you too hard," SpongeBob said. "It's only because you're our friend." He loosened his embrace, as did Michiru. Plankton took in a breath.

"Hm." Plankton placed a finger on his chin. "This violence, it feels good. Strange."

Minako sniffed. "Does my nose deceive me, or do I smell a group hug coming on?"

Squidward backed away. "Your nose deceives you. I have the biggest nose out of all of you, and I smell nothing."

Gripping his arm, Makoto dragged the octopus to the growing mass of humans and sea creatures hugging one another. Squidward whined that he was allergic to hugs and would sneeze all over them, but they hugged one another more tightly.

King Neptune encircled his muscular arms around them. "My friends."

SpongeBob felt his friends for possibly the last time. Couldn't measure how long they stayed that way but, eventually, it ended.

No more words were necessary.

Looking toward the shimmering surface, Fisheye chanted the incantation that CereCere had given him long ago. The pole and yellow orb materialized in front of him. He snatched each, tossed the orb in the air and then caught it, feeling its solidity. Bikini Bottom may be dreamlike, but the orb was real.

Everything that had happened, as quickly and slowly as it had passed, was real. So real that, somewhere along the way, Fisheye had changed.

Humans made mistakes. They destroyed. They plundered. They acted out of selfishness.

But they cared. They behaved passionately, for those they loved and for strangers. They laughed together and cried together and did the same with strangers.

They changed. Like Fisheye had.

The land was beautiful.

Taking a breath, he struck the orb with the pole.

The air broke open, revealing a portal, sucking in the air and all that was near.

"You have to get close for it to suck you in," Fisheye said. "You have as much time as you need." Unlike last time, when Fisheye hadn't given the Guardians a chance to say goodbye to their loved ones on the land.

SpongeBob waved. "Goodbye. I'll miss you."

"I will, too." Mrs. Puff dabbed her eye. "Thank you."

Plankton clutched his heart. "This, this ache. I've never felt it. What is it?"

"You're sad to see them go, Plankton," Karen said. "I feel it, too."

"Gosh darn it." Sandy wiped at her eyes with fists. "Y'all done made me cry. I didn't want the last they see of us to be us snottin' all over the place."

"It's weird," Chibi-Usa said, on the edge of the portal. "I'm happy but sad at the same time. Happy that I met you, sad to leave."

How badly SpongeBob wanted to pull them back into Bikini Bottom to live forever, but he made himself say, "Don't stay away from your friends and families any longer. Go." He choked on his own words.

They remained a beat longer, taking in Bikini Bottom and the sea creatures that filled it, but they went. One by one, SpongeBob's friends passed through the portal.

Usagi lingered at the back of the group.

She needed something to remember them by. To encourage her.

He walked to her, held out his bubble wand. "Here. In case you want to use the majestic power of bubbles. My power, all inside that wand."

Usagi gestured, about to push his gift away. "SpongeBob..."

"Go ahead."

She hesitated and then took it. Cradled it in her arms. "Thank you, SpongeBob. I'll treasure it. It'll always be with me."

SpongeBob grinned. "Then I'll always be with you."

Usagi's mouth parted. She threw her arms around SpongeBob. The portal tugged at him, but he stayed in her embrace.

She let him go, took off her tiara and pressed it into his hands. "I'll always be with you, too."

SpongeBob held the tiara to his heart. He nodded. Couldn't speak.

"Goodbye, SpongeBob." She stepped into the portal, and it shrunk around her.

"Goodbye, Usagi."

She passed through, and the portal closed.

Without them, everything seemed dead.

Patrick blinked at the spot where the portal had been. "Now what?"

"I don't know," SpongeBob said.

So began the first day of the rest of their lives. The day the Sailor Team had gifted them with.

SpongeBob did what he always did. Go to work, go to boating school (Mrs. Puff treated him differently, like she believed that he could pass his driving test, even when he kept failing), go home and feed Gary. The humdrum of life. What else could he do?

Days passed. Weeks passed. Life went on.

But he didn't move on.

How could he? He went through the motions, but he felt as though he was stuck in the same place he'd been when the Guardians first left, watching the portal close.

He began to sit near the surface, feeling closer to them. He spoke to them, hoped that they could hear, no matter where they were.

He talked to them about his days, his failures at boating school, his successes at work, feeding hundreds upon hundreds of people and King Neptune, the god dropping in every now and then for a krabby patty. He and Patrick playing with the conch shell, hoping that Helios was inside so they could talk to him, but the former Pegasus never was.

Every time he spoke to them, the sea rippled. Maybe they could hear him.

SpongeBob took out Usagi's tiara from his pocket and pressed it to his chest. No matter the emptiness in his heart, they would always be with them. If he lost the tiara, they would always be with him.

They had become part of him, and he part of them.

For the first time in two days, the Guardians returned home.

When they first arrived on the beach at the Pacific Ocean's edge, they took deep breaths. The pressure of saving another world, a world that had become a second home to them, lifted.

The Sailor Quartet bowed before Chibi-Usa, Helios beside her. They hadn't stopped holding hands since they'd reunited in Elysion.

"Princess, it's time for us to go," Ceres said.

"So soon?" Chibi-Usa said. "We just met."

"We know. We regret hurting you instead of protecting you for so long. We'd like to make up for the times we hurt you, but you aren't fully awakened yet. When that time comes, we'll never leave your side."

"I see." Chibi-Usa squeezed Helios' hand. "Where are you all going until then?"

"We'll reenter slumber in our asteroids. Since we know who we really are, what Nehellenia did to us will never happen again."

She sunk with relief. "That's good to hear. I guess this isn't goodbye then. Only 'see you soon.'"

"For sure," Vesta said. "See you soon, Princess."

Pink, red, blue, and green lights encapsulated each member of the Quartet, swirled into the sky, disappearing within the clouds. Felt like parts of Chibi-Usa had flown away. All the more reason for Chibi-Usa to work harder to become a full-fledged Guardian. Despite her defeating Nehellenia, she had a long way to go before she grew into the young woman she was meant to be.

Helios faced Chibi-Usa, taking her other hand. "Now, maiden, I must return to Elysion."

Chibi-Usa cringed. Right after her own Guardians had left? She made herself say, "I understand." Because she did. Every leader wanted to return to her people, to protect them.

"I'll always keep you, the prince, and the other Guardians and sea creatures in my prayers."

"M-me too. I'll start praying for you, too. Every night."

Helios shook his head. "Not only for me. For your Guardians. For this world."

"But I, I don't know how to pray. I was just pouring everything out before because I was afraid that I'd lost you forever."

"You don't have to pray out of fear, but you can pray out of faith. The gods hear the prayers of the righteous."

Chibi-Usa's mouth parted. They had heard her. More than that, they'd answered her.

"Prayer is coming before the gods with a humble, pure heart, talking to them and hearing what they say. That's all you must do to pray, my maiden."

Chibi-Usa found herself smiling. "I will. And I'll come visit you."

"So will I." He raised his hand to the sky. A Pegasus appeared in a swathe of white light, landed on the sand beside Helios. "When we see each other, will you ride my steed with me?"

Chibi-Usa's heart soared. "Of course."

Helios saddled the Pegasus, gripped the reins. "Chibi-Usa, Prince, you will always be on my heart. Take good care of yourselves."

In a blanket of white light, Helios and the Pegasus faded.

Her prince.

After finally adapting to Bikini Bottom, the humans had to readapt to the land, which was flat by comparison. Harder to adapt because they'd changed as people. The human world was different but the same.

As a politician's daughter, Rei would have the hardest time.

A search party of both paid people and volunteers had gone out for Rei. Her father had appeared on television several times. He proclaimed his sadness at first losing his wife and now losing a daughter, a pain that no one should have to endure. Rei and her father had a strained relationship, but she didn't want him to be tormented about her disappearance.

An election was coming up. Perhaps the man was using her disappearance to buy pity votes.

Couldn't think that way about her father, no matter how he behaved. Had to treat him nicely and patiently, like Patrick.

Even though part of his grief was for the cameras, most of it was genuine. Maybe he did care for her more than she'd believed.

First, Rei returned to her shrine. Reporters surrounded the area, asking her poor, private grandfather where she was.

Well, she was here.

When the reporters saw her, they swamped her like vultures, flooding her with questions. Her father arrived minutes later. If only he could've come that quickly when she was a child, waiting for him to pick her up from school.

She let him hug her. He hugged her mechanically.

A flurry of emotions assaulted Rei. Guilt at making her father and, mostly, her grandfather worry. Happiness at seeing them again. Frustration at her father using the situation to his advantage.

Her father gripped her shoulders. "I was worried sick. Where were you?"

Rei's mouth dried. How were the Guardians to explain their absences?

Living on their own, the Outer Guardians wouldn't worry. Their parents went days without seeing them. Being absent from school was another story. Michiru and Haruka never missed a day of school, nor did Setsuna miss a session of class at her university. They simply said that they had gotten sick with the same virus, and had passed their sickness on to Hotaru, keeping the tween out of school, too.

If only the younger Guardians could explain away their absences as easily.

They decided to explain that they'd gone to Makoto's apartment to study, had gotten sick, and had holed themselves inside.

"Without calling your father?" a reporter asked Rei, like her grandfather didn't exist.

"Makoto's phone had gotten cut off," Rei explained, "and we didn't want to go outside to use anyone else's phone. We were that sick."

A stupid explanation that the media didn't buy. So they made up their own stories, spinning rumors that Rei had been seeing her old crush Kaidou, her father's secretary, something that Rei didn't bother addressing. Thanks to the media's short attention span, the rumors would die down.

Some believed that the sickness and self-quarantine were true, but the rumors about the girls running away from home, seeing nonexistent boyfriends, were more popular than the ho-hum explanation of becoming sick.

Naru had asked Usagi what had really happened. Usagi had said that they had gotten sick. As long as their stories were consistent, no one could knock them. They'd be locked inside a mental hospital if they told anyone about Bikini Bottom.

If only they could tell the truth.

The Sailor Team lived with the consequences of their disappearance until, days later, the media latched onto juicier stories, especially when the girls didn't cave to the media's pressure of telling the alleged "real story." Finally, the girls led private lives once more.

None of them could look at cooked fish the same way again. For all they knew, they were eating Billy and Fred.

Mamoru and Makoto became vegetarians. The others managed to keep eating fish without vomiting. They had to survive. Even though SpongeBob and the other sea creatures wouldn't blame the group for eating fish, the humans couldn't shake their guilt. They ate fishless as much as possible.

Whenever Usagi saw goldfish for sale in pet shops and at carnivals, there was SpongeBob. Whenever she saw a cooked fish, there was SpongeBob. Whenever her mother broke out the sponge to wipe down the tub, there was SpongeBob.

Bikini Bottom was everywhere.

Privately, she and the Guardians spoke much of their time in Bikini Bottom. Debriefed Luna, Artemis, and Diana. The cats had known. Artemis had somehow given Minako her upgrade while she was in Bikini Bottom, the two were so close, even though Minako often groaned about the doting Artemis.

No amount of commiserating with her fellow Guardians, even Mamoru, filled the hole in Usagi's heart.

To fill that hole, Usagi had started going to the beach.

After school, she went. Had started getting up early, to the point where her mama, papa, and Shingo thought that she'd been possessed. She wanted to go to the beach before school to see the ocean and, possibly, see them.

She never had.

When the beach cleared of people, she talked to them. About the drollness of everyday life, the plainness of the human world compared to the excitement bursting from Bikini Bottom.

One evening, she sat at the ocean's feet, letting it wash over her own. The sky was purpling into darkness, and beachgoers were clearing out for the school night.

Finally, she was alone.

Before she could open her mouth to talk to them, the ocean bubbled.

Usagi slowly stood. A shark?

Run.

She was a Guardian. She didn't run.

A figure was swimming to the surface, its shadow growing beneath the sea.

The shadow split into three. Yellow, pink, and brown.

Usagi's heart began to lift.

They surfaced. A distance away, but they were there.

He laughed his signature, infectious laugh.

Usagi rushed out to meet them.

-END-

Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading. I hope that you enjoyed taking this journey with the Sailor Team, SpongeBob and his friends, and myself. I've had an idea to cross over the SpongeBob universe with the Sailor Moon universe since 2009, but I wasn't sure how I wanted to execute it. At first, I was going to write a few random stories, but I decided that doing so wouldn't do either series justice. I started thinking about how dreamlike being transported to another world would be. After all, who'd be able to believe that they'd be transported to Bikini Bottom, much less fight robots alongside a sponge, starfish, and squirrel? Hence why I decided to weave in the Dream arc of the Sailor Moon manga with the Battle for Bikini Bottom video game, one of my favorite video games.

The journey ended up being a bit longer than I thought it'd be, but I hope it was worth the read. It was definitely worth the write.

To all my loyal readers, sticking with me to the end, through questionable, strange, and frustrating moments, thank you. I'm glad you gave this odd crossover a chance. I hope that you grew with the Sailor Team and SpongeBob and his friends, just as I did.

All the best,

-Zesh