Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Bunny opened her eyes to find herself sitting on an empty beach, in the middle of nowhere. The waves came up to where she sat and would recede back, and the air was wonderfully cool. She had no idea where she was, but this place was very peaceful, and she didn't know if she wanted to leave it.

She turned to her left, and saw a woman identical to her, right down to the Odango-style hair, sitting next to her. Her knees were to her chest as she stared off to the horizon.

"You're awake," she said, not bothering to look over. Bunny had no words and tried to speak anyway. Nothing came out.

"It's okay. Take your time. We've got all of it in the world. I bet you have a lot of questions for me, don't you?"

Bunny just nodded.

The figure inhaled deeply and exhaled before speaking. "It's good to finally get to meet you in person, Serenity Briefs. My name is Serenity Son. Yes, just like Goten. I have another name… I used to be called 'The Inquisitor'."

She closed her intense, blue eyes as she spoke. "You and I are of different timelines. My timeline was… polluted, corrupted, by the actions of Chaos and God. I never saw how badly, until I began to lose Terra. She was being erased from history, and I… I had to stop it from happening. So much had happened to her already that I couldn't sit by and let her not exist. So, I stole the Dragon Balls, and used my two wishes to locate her, and obtain a key of time from Terra's reincarnated self."

Her grip on her knees tightened. "I went into the past, and after everything was said and done, I saved her. But when I tried to go home… something pulled me even further into the past. That was where I met him. Lord Albedo. He was a kid when we met, I watched a soldier shoot his head completely off his body. It… horrified me. I killed the man, and when I saw the boy could regenerate, I felt we could be friends. If he couldn't die, he couldn't leave me like everyone else."

Bunny just nodded, still unable to find words to speak.

"I loved him. I loved Lord Albedo with everything I had, but I don't think he ever saw me like that. The way he'd lash out, when his insanity peaked in his outbursts… if I hadn't been trained by King Kai to be stronger, he'd have killed me several times. But I loved him, and I could see past his anger. It never justified what he did, but I could understand it. If I had left him, I don't know what would have happened. And while I was there, trying to find my way home… it occurred to me one day. I could alter history."

Serenity smiled. "I could make things BETTER. I could find Terra and protect her. Have her protected. That was the day I met the little Realian girl named Fayth. It was a gamble, but I gave her Terra's Star Seed, so she could one day become Sailor Earth instead of Terra. All that was left was to locate her. But, she had already died by then, on a planet called Michtam."

"When everything led to that place, though, I went with Rubedo to there, and I found her still-wandering soul. I took it with me, inside the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou. I locked her in there, and kept her safe. I witnessed the birth of Sailor Pluto, and I left to plan my moves. Being with Lord Albedo taught me that you had to plan carefully. In the end, I saw what I had to do, and I knew it would hurt many people, but I didn't care."

Tears began to fill her eyes.

"So, I took Fayth away from Rubedo and I shut her down. I told him how to find Earth, and that she would be there. If he could arrive there quickly, things would work. Terra had to be safe from harm… and what better way than to make her a princess?"

"Kara-neechan…"

"Yeah. The queen can only have one daughter before losing her power, so I tweaked my crystal and gave it to the first who would be queen. With every time it passed hands, it would grow in power and give Terra strength to be reborn. The year that would happen, there would be two children. I think… the first time failed. She wasn't reborn as one of the twins, but it kept growing and growing until she became Princess Selene. …you know the rest of it."

"It was you, in the future."

Serenity nodded.

"It was you, against the Death Busters, when I went missing."

"You didn't 'go missing'… you were asleep, and I was controlling your body."

"I'm not insane… you were the one coming out…"

Serenity nodded again. "Yeah. After so long, locked up in the crystal, I had to replay all of my actions over and over in my head, and I got confused… when I woke up, I thought I was just having a nightmare, and would attack. But now, it's over."

Bunny seemed confused and tilted her head. "Over?"

"This is the Beach of Nothingness. This is where souls dwell before they return to the Collective Unconsciousness. The heart of the Cauldron is just beyond the edge of the horizon, there."

She pointed and Bunny turned to look. A stream of pure, brilliant light rose as a column from just past where the eye could see.

"After we're done, I'm going to go there and sink in. I have no place in this timeline, and I can't go home. Everything is gone, everyone is gone… I'm going to go and rest for a long, long time." She smiled at the thought of it. "I've done so many things wrong… I just… wanted to help. But I tried to pull events off the destined path. And because of that… Fayth killed Terra. The power and the body had to rejoin, but I didn't see that. Those two were destined to fight to the death. Neither knew it, but if Fayth hadn't killed Terra, then Terra would have drained out her power and it would have killed Fayth."

As she finished speaking, she stood up and began walking into the ocean.

"Wait! Are you leaving forever? Don't go Serenity!"

"It's not forever… I'm a Sailor Senshi, too, little Bunny-chan. But don't worry, I made sure that you would have a wonderful family. After all, I made sure you would be Trunks' daughter. He and Goten were my guardians… and originally, you would have been Goten's daughter, because Trunks was a wonderful protector. But then I realized, those qualities made him a better father. They will watch over you for as long as you'll let them, don't worry."

She looked into the horizon and smiled. "Lord Albedo won't be there waiting for me… but I can dream, can't I?"

She held her arms out, and faded away into nothing.

Bunny sat there and stared out where Serenity had been. The water lapped at her again and again, but she couldn't bring herself to move. Tears were in her eyes and for the first time she saw that her hair was now black, rather than blonde. She grabbed it and stared, unable to comprehend what was going on. She began to cry right there.

She cried for what seemed to be eternity, until she had no more tears. And then she cried again. It just went on and on, she was unable to pull herself out of it. She had no realization of the passage of time and she wondered if it had stopped in this place. Was she in the Afterlife? Everyone would wonder where she was. She thought of her papa. Was he wondering why she wasn't back yet?

Bunny had no idea how long had passed, until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see her father standing there, smiling. He seemed proud, and impressed.

"Hey, there, Bunny."

Bunny froze at the sight of him.

"I'm glad to see you. It's okay now, it's over. You did great."

Bunny leapt up and hugged him as tight as she could and it caused him to wobble and crash to the white sand below them. Realization settled over her and she sat up as her eyes went wide.

"W-wait! I'm dead!" she said. "I threw myself into the Cauldron! How are you here? You died too…?"

Trunks sat up, but before he could say anything about his ordeal of having his heart forcibly ripped in two, a new set of voices called to them.

"BUNNY!"

Bunny looked behind her father to see her friends running towards her. All of them were in white dresses and suits. Minako got to her first and jumped on her to hug her. She was followed by the others, with the exception of Terra, who stood there with her arms crossed. Haruka had to reach up and pull her in to it.

"Everyone is here… you're all okay!" Bunny was ecstatic about it. She wrapped her arms around Goten and held herself there until she had to pull away just to see everyone. Goten looked to Trunks, who only nodded at the silent question.

"The entire time."

Bunny grabbed Terra and hugged her, as well. She looked like Mirai-chan here. The form suited her well. "We're in soul form, aren't we?" she wondered.

Terra just nodded and stepped back. As Bunny laughed and checked her friends, Terra's senses went off and she turned around to see two children standing there, holding hands and glaring at them.

"You don't deserve to live," the boy warned as he pointed to Bunny. There was confusion, but when a burst of energy shot forth, Trunks got in the way at once. The attack never hit them as a hand swatted it away as though it were an annoying pest.

"You will not take my happy reunion from me," the woman said.

Bunny stared in shock at the Sailor Senshi before her. It was a Senshi she had seen only once in her life, at the Graveyard. "Mama?!"

The boy ignored her and aimed again. Another blast of energy shot out and went for Rubedo. He was struck in the shoulder, but the wound healed itself in a burst of swirling lights. He still felt the pain.

"Fuck."

The idea that he wasn't injured seemed to upset the two. That was when the group noticed that the sea was starting to become restless.

"The prelude of a tsunami!" Michiru warned. Before anyone could attack, a new figure came between the two groups.

"Kara-neechan?"

Kara, in the form that Bunny knew as Terra, stood between them. She glared at the children, who cowered down at the sight of her. "We do not attack others!" she chastised.

Neither said a word in their own defense and only bowed their heads.

"They have suffered enough! They aren't what you thought them to be! Now go!" The girl raised her head as though to speak, but Kara wouldn't let her. "I said go!"

"Yes, mother." With no more words, the two vanished.

Kara turned to Bunny and smiled. "Sorry, Sere. But… if I was truly the mother of those two in a previous life, I thought that I could make them stop. So… do I get my wish now?"

Bunny smiled and nodded. "Yeah. You can be reborn now." The look on Kara's face was one of pure joy and content. She vanished from sight just as Bunny felt someone hug her. She looked to see her mother there once more.

"It's good to finally meet my little girl," Kiyo said. "I've been sitting here for… I don't know how long. What did your father finally name you?"

Trunks went red and Bunny laughed. "My name is Serenity. But everyone calls me 'Bunny', because I used to bounce all the time when I was young."

"I love it. A much better choice than he was going to make." Kiyo kept smiling and hugged them both. "I wish I could stay… and I wish I could go back with you. However, there isn't a place in the world for me right now."

She let them go with great reluctance and stepped back. "Bunny-chan, you have a choice to make here. You and your friends can choose to return to your homes and your lives, or you can travel to the horizon and sink in to the Collective Unconsciousness. No matter what you choose, I'll still be proud of you."

That prospect caught Bunny off guard. She could stay here with her mother, or she could go back. Wasn't the future already changed?

"No… Kara-neechan is going to be born. So, we have to go back. B-but, everyone… their bodies are gone, mama."

Kiyo cupped her hands and held them to Bunny. The Maboroshi no Ginzuishou appeared in a swirl of soft light and she smiled. "So long as you have this, little Bunny-chan, your friends will come back to you. You are going to be a queen one day. This is well within your power. So leave the Cauldron and bring everyone back. And, when your day finally comes that you return here, I'll be waiting for you. I promise, I'll be right here."

Bunny took it from her and nodded. The soft light bathed everyone as Bunny turned around and held it out before her. One by one, her friends put their hands on the crystal and were absorbed in to it.

"You're taking me, too?" Rubedo asked. He was the only one left now, as he hadn't lined up with the others.

Bunny nodded and eagerly held the crystal out to him. "You're my friend, Rubedo-kun!"

With a smile, Rubedo put his hand on the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou and was absorbed as well. With no one left, Bunny looked back to her mother one last time.

"I was pregnant with you when I was killed, Bunny-chan. I spent years walking this beach, looking for you," Kiyo finally said. The news confused Bunny terribly.

"What? Papa said I was in America with him when you died…"

"I didn't understand it until the boy explained it to me. You had been saved before you could die. It was the Dark Kingdom. They found you and did away with me. But the Guardian of Time saved you, and you were given back to your original body." Kiyo cupped Bunny's face with her hands. "Don't blame your father. He loves you, so very much. I can see that. He wanted to protect you from the truth. He is still your father, even if there were no connection between you."

"But now, you don't belong here," a new voice said. Bunny looked to see an unfamiliar boy with dark skin and silver hair. "It's time for you to go back. I was the one to give your friends their power ups… and now I'm here to take you back."

Bunny nodded and gave her mother one, final hug before vanishing in blinding light.

She sat up in the graveyard, where she'd been propped up against a tombstone. The signs of her battle were everywhere, and she was alone. No, she wasn't. Chibi Moon was here with her, as was the Quartet.

"You're okay!" Chibi Moon hugged her and pulled back. "I was so worried! W-we came back this way looking for you, you jumped in the Cauldron and melted!"

Bunny smiled and stood up. In her hand was the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou. "I had… a very long talk. And I think I'm ready now. To be a queen. But, I need my court."

The crystal floated before her and she held her hands out to cup it. Closing her eyes, she released the souls of her friends and family from within. Each one was contained in a tiny ball of light that flew off to where they had perished. The one that had contained Goten landed on the ground several feet away and grew into his shape, before turning solid.

"Goten-oji!" Bunny hugged him and felt his arm, as though to find the evidence of wounds. There were none and she resumed her hug.

"I think I'm going on a long diet after that," he shuddered, returning her hug. "Being eaten is not a pleasant experience."

"Everyone is alive again… all of my friends and allies. Come on, Goten-oji. Let's get Terra-chan and Rubedo-kun and go home, where we belong. Everyone is waiting for us."

Terra opened her eyes and looked out the window. The sun was shining beautifully in the sky and the temperature was cool for the time of year. The smell of spring came through the window to greet her. America hadn't changed much.

"Are you awake yet?" Rubedo asked as he tapped on her door. "You've got to get up and meet everyone."

Terra yawned. "Yeah. Give me a minute." She stood up and opened her blinds to stare into the front yard of the house. It was very similar to the one Kara had grown up in. Shortly after her rebirth, which still kept her in the form of Kara, she and Rubedo had come back to America for several months. It was easier for Mamoru to visit, and Terra just wanted to rest from the experience.

"I know I'm a Realian in the future, so why wasn't I reborn as one?" She opened the window up and stared outside for the longest time. She sighed and shook her head. There was no use on thinking of it. The future wasn't going to be changed.

Everyone had arrived over the past few days. It was difficult getting them out of school in many cases, but somehow they'd managed to all make it. That made Terra happy. To have real friends who would come like this.

"Hey, Fayth, you've got a text. I think it's Bunny's number." Rubedo picked Terra's phone up and looked at it.

"What's it say?"

"She would like to know why you didn't pick the white one," Rubedo said as he read the text message. "Also, please teach her better English. I can barely read these."

"Tell her I'm getting married today, and having people snicker at your wedding is bad enough, but a white dress?" Terra smiled again as she leaned against the window ledge. "Even I wouldn't be able to keep a straight face."

"It's so pretty, though, you have to see it!"

"We'll see it when she comes down the aisle."

"But it's PRETTY!"

Bunny was pulling Goten along and gushing about Terra's wedding dress. "I wish she'd gotten it in white, though…"

"It's her choice. I don't feel her Ki anywhere near here, though. Where the hell is she?"

"She… she said she has 'American Business'," Bunny explained with a suddenly calm voice. "Let her. Come on, come see her dress!"

Bunny opened the door of the dressing room and stepped in to see the others getting ready. Their bridesmaid dresses were already on, now it was a matter of touching up their hair and makeup. The wedding gown was the center of it all, though.

In green and blue, it set well with the royal dresses that the girls were wearing. The entire collar was covered in blue flowers, with a blue sash and a crisp, white trail. Goten whistled. There were even sapphires sewn along it.

"This had to have cost a fortune," he commented. "Is this silk? OW!"

Michiru slapped his hand away. "Terra had strict orders that no one touch it."

"Everything is going to be good now. In a few years, we'll have Crystal Tokyo, and only a century until Chibi-Usa-chan is born. I don't care what anyone says, when I become Neo Queen Serenity, I won't live on the Moon," Bunny promised. "I want to live with all my friends."

Setsuna nodded and continued applying her makeup.

"At least the veil is white," Goten commented, still fixated on the dress.

"We finally have our peace!" Bunny hugged Rei as tight as she could without hurting her. "Let's enjoy it forever!"

Terra sat on the ground, overlooking a river. She had to leave soon, or she'd be late for her own wedding. But, there was something she needed to do first.

She'd sat here for hours, just staring out at the muddy water and thinking. She finally stood and picked up the bouquet of flowers she'd bought for the trip. With a strong toss, they landed in the water to float away.

"That's for you, Kara. It's not much longer until everything is right again. So, you sleep peacefully until we can see you again." She felt a warmth surge in her chest, as though a star was being born inside of her.

"We fought long, hard battles to get here, and sometimes it seems like we should have just given up. But we can't do that, can we? We're Sailor Senshi, and this is our destiny. In the end… we were always the only ones who could do it. So, I'm going to enjoy our peace and our happiness for as long as I can, because even I deserve it, too."

Terra looked up at the sky and smiled. "And it's all thanks to your sister, to Sailor Moon. Even someday, when our bodies disappear and new Sailor Senshi are born… she will always, always be invincible… the most beautiful, shining star."

End