Author's Note: This story marks the end, and is thus appropriately titled.

A lot has happened this year – and most of it not too good. Suffice it to say that for personal reasons, I have decided to discontinue this account until I can recover my inspiration. I am trying to grow as a person and as a writer, and I am afraid that I will have to revamp the vast majority of these stories.

It is a daunting task, and I'm not altogether sure I'm up for it any time soon.

However, I have no intention of abandoning this account entirely – I just require some time to decide what exactly it is I want to do with it.

So, this will likely be the last story for quite some time. I hope you will enjoy it.

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"So, it has come to this once again." She says it with such an even, unfeeling tone. For a thousand years now this princess has lived in death to wait for a chance to live, and to love again.

And once again, she – I – have repeated the mistakes of the past. Because of us, our selfishness, her kingdom was destroyed, Earth was destroyed. We have killed everyone we have ever loved twice over. Ami, Rei, Makoto, Minako…Mamoru. All dead, again, because of her, because of me. Because they swore to protect me, because I failed in my duty to protect them.

My greatest fear is that all of this will happen again, that if I allow Serenity to begin this all again, that I will have learned nothing, that I would once again throw away everything – life, family, friends, Earth, for love. A love that is doomed to die, a love that is cursed, a love that was forbidden a thousand years ago, that should never have been allowed in this life.

But, being their beloved princess, I was petted, indulged, and once again I have betrayed them and lost all.

"Yes," I say. "Yes, we have failed again." In this place of solitude, this place that Serenity has created just for us two, she and I, the past and the present, there is nothing but quiet emptiness stretching between us. In this place we are two instead of one. In this place, I can see her face, the face that is identical to mine, wearing an expression I could never wear.

"It will all begin again." She lifts her hand, stretching it towards me, and the Ginzuishou drifts to me, glowing with an eerie brilliance. It hovers over my hand; I cannot touch this crystal, I cannot hold it in my hand, I cannot control it. It will control me, it will do my bidding only so long as it can draw on my power. Soon I will die, and it will find a new soul to use.

"Serenity, why are you doing this?" My other hand clenches into a fist, my nails digging into my palm. "Why are you letting them win?"

"It cannot be helped. Our love is cursed. The only way to see Endymion again is to-"

"Endymion is dead." I bite my lip. She is still the princess. Even dead, even living only inside of me, she is still the princess. "Endymion has been dead for more than a thousand years. And you, too, Serenity. You cannot live again on Earth."

"I can live again inside of you. I can live again with Endymion – Mamoru, if you'd rather call him that – on Earth, inside of you." It is such a logical argument, and such a sad one. "You know what you must do, Usagi," she says.

"You cannot live inside of me anymore. Very soon, I will die. You cannot live if I die." Because I do know what I have to do, and I know that she will not expect it. She thinks that we are the same, she and I, and we aren't. Not at all. She might be me, but I am not her. I am more than she is, I am better than she is.

"We will be reborn. Both of us, together. As someone new, a new princess, a new senshi. With a new Endymion, and a new Mamoru. We will see him again, Usagi." She is still so emotionless, so untouchable, and I wonder if this is what comes of waiting a thousand years for a new life, if this is what will become of me in a thousand years, if I wait to be reborn with her.

"In the new life, it would be you and I together in another girl?"

"Yes."

"And would that girl, too, eventually die and join us here?"

"Yes, that is so."

"And then we would wait for the next life, the three of us?"

"That is so."

"And our friends, and Mamoru, they would die for us again?"

"It is the way of things. It is the only way to be together with the one we love."

"Unacceptable!" I say it with a big, dramatic sweep of my arm, and the Ginzuishou goes flying, swooping in a graceful arc back towards Serenity.

"It is the only way. If you love him, it is the only way."

"I love him." It is the first time I have said it, and he will never hear it from me. It's all very sad, that I will die here, that he will live again, without me. My heart hurts with an ache that I pray he will never feel. I never wanted this. I never wanted to cause so much pain and suffering. And it is not my wish for this to happen all over again, even if I could be with him for a short while. This pain is torture, this is a pain I want to end here, once and for all. I will not feel this pain again, not in a thousand years, and I will not give it to someone else.

"I love him enough to die for him, as he has died for me," I say. "Always they have protected me. Now it is my turn to protect them."

"What are you saying, Usagi?" She stands, her long silk skirt brushing the marble floor. "There is only one way."

"For you there was only one way," I say. "For me there is another. We will never see him again. We will both die here, together. This time we will not wait a thousand years to be reborn. This time we will give them the happiness they deserve. Ginzuishou, I am ready to make my wish."

"You don't know what you're saying!" She reaches out, but the Ginzuishou slips past her. She is no longer its rightful owner. The days when she could use its power have long since passed. "I have to live again, I have to be with Endymion!"

"If you loved him," I say, "if you loved him as you say you loved him, you will understand what I have to do. We will only ever bring him pain. We will only ever bring suffering and death to Earth. As long as we are alive, as long as there is the Ginzuishou, there will be enemies who will try to take it from us. They will kill Mamoru, they will kill our friends, they will destroy everything. We will feel this pain forever. I am going to end that. Very soon, we will be freed of our suffering. Very soon, they will live again, happily this time. That will be our gift to them for their loyal service. In a world where we don't exist, there will be no more youma, no more senshi. This time, we must be the ones to sacrifice, we must die forever so that they can live forever. This must be the last wish the Ginzuishou ever grants us. Ginzuishou, have you heard?"

In answer, the stone shines so brightly that I must shield my eyes.

"This is my wish, Ginzuishou. I wish for the rebirth of the Earth and its people. I wish for the rebirth of Mamoru who was Endymion, and for Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako. I wish for them to have no memories at all of the Moon Kingdom, of being senshi, of me, or of Serenity. Finally, I wish to be the last to use your power for this purpose, that you and Serenity and I will all die together, an ending to our pain."

I can feel it draining not just my life, but my very essence – this wish is so great that it will require my soul as well as my life, this wish will destroy all that I am, all that I had hoped to one day become. For a moment the pain is intense, worse than anything I have ever felt. I open my mouth to scream, and then – ah! – peace.

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Juuban is a peaceful district. Little happens there, and nothing worth noting usually. Only something will happen today which has not happened in a thousand years, and is finally, finally free of its curse. Because of the selfless wish of a young girl, she who gave her immortal soul for those she loved was granted a second – or is it third at this point? – chance.

Today that girl will meet the man with whom she will fall in love, the man she has met twice before, the man who, until now, was fated to die in her service.

And this time, they will finally live happily ever after.

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Author's Note: And so, with this, I will say 'so long', just for a while.

I promise this won't be goodbye forever. I'm sad to go away for a long time, and I hope that when I return you will continue to read my stories. I'm very sorry to leave like this.

We'll definitely meet again in the future, okay?