Just wanted to thank everyone who reviewed this one and to let you know that this is not the end of the story. The second in the Book of the Renewal (The Guardians of Selene) will be out in a couple of weeks. Hope you enjoy.
Draegyn
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The Law Keeper - Epilogue
First in the Book of the Renewal
By Draegyn
Serenity examined the small room that had, for a short time, been hers. Gone were the stuffed animals, the frills and ribbons that had decorated the room during her brief stay. All that remained was the neutral arrangement that could have been a guest room anywhere. She sighed ruefully, it wasn't as if a frilly pink decor was her first choice but it had been the theme that had fit Bunny and Serenity would miss it.
"Is Rini ready?" she asked aloud, not afraid that her former family would hear her. She was subtly out of phase with the rest of the universe and her presence was completely undetectable except to those who were in the same, slightly skewed, dimension that she was currently in. Setsuna nodded wordlessly and Serenity sighed again.
"You need not have returned here," her green haired friend advised her, "Rini is with your twin and the Tsukino family have no memory of the week you spent here. There is no evidence that either of you were ever here. So there is no reason for you to have returned here."
Serenity smiled crookedly at the other guardian. "I know Sets." She walked to the door and through it into the hallway. She felt Setsuna frown at her before following and soon they had gone down the stairs into the lounge room. They stood, invisible, behind the couch where two males sat. The elder was silent as he read the paper and the boy's noises were perfunctory at best as he played the same Sailor V game that Serenity had become so interested in.
"At least the time loop means that Rini never broke the game," she commented, more to herself than to Setsuna. The companion in question merely raised an eyebrow that Serenity studiously ignored.
At that moment the boy threw the control pad onto the floor with a sound of disgust. The man looked up from his paper and asked, "What's the matter Sammy? Game not going your way?"
"It's going great, I got a new high score..." Sammy replied unenthusiastically.
"So what's the problem?" Ken Tsukino questioned his son.
Sammy looked at him in confusion. "I don't know Dad, I really don't know... It's just not the same any more. Something's missing and it's taking all of the fun out of it."
Ken put the paper the paper down and drew his son in for a hug and it was a measure of how depressed the preteen truly felt that he did not protest. "I understand exactly what you feel," the man told his child, "It's like all of the energy has left the house."
Serenity could bear to see no more and quickly left the room. Setsuna followed and the Lunarian could feel the perplexity that was starting to grow in her friend. A moment later found them in the kitchen where a dark haired woman stared at two bunny mugs sadly. Abruptly she shook herself and put the mugs on the top shelf but that did not stop her from giving them one last, regretful glance before she turned back to her chores.
Serenity reached out to the woman but her hand passed through Ilene Tsukino's arm to no effect other than to reveal to the Law Keeper a yearning that the woman herself did not understand. There was an absence in the human's spirit, as if a part of Ilene remembered and mourned the loss of a daughter. Almost as if she sensed the touch, Ilene shivered and Serenity stepped away from the human woman.
"What is wrong with me?" the two watchers heard her ask the world in general before they retreated out of the room.
Several minutes later they walked down the street, no longer insubstantial but a part of the world around them. "Will you tell me what purpose all of that just served?" Chronos' Law Keeper questioned mildly as the pair walked away from the house.
Serenity looked grim, the sights she had just witnessed confirming something she had not wanted to believe. It was several minutes before she answered but Setsuna was nothing if not patient. What else could be expected from one who served Chronos? "I was checking on something my mother once told me, something the last couple of weeks' events have made applicable. You see, nothing can change the fact that they lived with me for several days."
"But you didn't. That's the whole point of splicing time." Setsuna's voice was impatient and Serenity regretted implying that her friend had been careless in her work.
"You're the one that doesn't understand Setsuna. The thing Mama told me about was about the Speaker and his nature. He defies all rules, you see. The Heart of the universe is a law unto himself. He's the one person you can let travel time freely after all." A weight seemed to settle on her shoulders, one that was greater than any caused by her responsibilities as a Law Keeper or even a possible Council Member. "I'll never be just a guardian, even if I fail the testing that is sure to come my way in the future." She gave Setsuna a hard look and her friend had the grace to look away. "It doesn't matter that I'm not even the equal of a Divine Star yet. If I am truly the Speaker's heir-" Setsuna did not refute it and Serenity's last hope faded as she finished, "If I am truly the Speaker's heir then, even now, the seeds of what he is also reside within me and that changes everything."
Setsuna stopped for a moment and then pulled her into the shade of a large tree to give them a semblance of privacy. Magenta eyes searched her own sapphire gaze and the woman's voice was strangely gentle as she asked, "Does it? Does it truly Usa?"
To her surprise Serenity felt her eyes fill with tears and her friend embraced her warmly as she began to shake convulsively. "Isn't there someone else?" she begged the Guardian of Time. Surely there was someone else who could shoulder the burden and do so with a gladder heart than hers.
"I am afraid not," she was told, "The Speaker has awaited your coming since before the birth of your mother and my lord, both. The awakening of the Imperium Silver Crystal by your hand only confirms what we have long known."
"We?" Her voice trembled but if there were others who could have warned her of what was coming she wanted to know of them.
Setsuna sighed, reluctant to reveal too much, but sensitive to her need to know. "High Lady Selene, Lord Thanatos, my Lord Chronos, perhaps your fellow guardians in Selene's service-"
Luna and Artemis then but- "My brother?"
"No, there was no need for him to know. Your education needed to be tailored specifically to the needs of your destiny and so your teachers had to be aware but to tell you or your twin would have laid undue burden upon you both."
"And it doesn't now?"
"Supposedly you are mature enough to cope at this time." The Law Keeper's voice held slight sardonic undertones.
Serenity met Setsuna's eyes and allowed her emotions to show plainly. "I'm scared," she whispered, "It was bad enough when it was possible that I might be Mama's heir but to know that I'm being groomed as the Speaker's heir?" Her voice cracked and she forced herself to calm down. "I'm sorry Sets..."
The Plutonian smiled kindly. "You can always come to me to talk or just to work off steam. It might sound strange Usa, but I have a notion of what you're going through. I felt much the same way when my Lord of Time first made himself known to me." She sighed in recollection. "I was a mortal, not especially noteworthy. Speaker bless, I was a seamstress! Then one day in the market a man appeared in... unusual clothing."
Serenity sniffed and straightened up. "Oh?"
"Alright, he looked downright bizarre!" Setsuna admitted with a laugh. "And you know how insular Pluto was right up until a century before the Fall."
Serenity nodded and the two of them left the shade of the tree. History of the local worlds was one of the topics she had been tutored in. Partly because of who her mother was and partly because the knowledge would aid in her mission to repair the damage done to the other planets in the war which caused the Fall. It was her responsibility to ensure that Earth's eight sister planets were all capable of supporting life by the time the Interdiction was lifted.
"Anyway," Pluto continued as they strolled down the street, "My fellow citizens were aghast at the appearance of the newcomer. His apparel clearly marked him as a foreigner and he was given the cold shoulder by one and all. From the more worldly perspective that I now possess I admit that his attire held a certain elegance but my lover's fondness for black has ever served to accomplish little other than to make him appear sinister. Even so I saw past his poor choice in colour and perceived, I blush to say, a very attractive man and so I decided to intervene..."
***
"Fred," Darien said calmly and took a sip out of his coffee.
"Fred?!" Andrew blurted a little louder than he would have preferred.
Several of the customers turned from their games to look at him curiously. Even Rini looked at them strangely before she returned her attention to the Sailor V game. She was waiting for a certain pair of Law Keepers to take her home and until then she was under his protection. Not that Andrew minded, his sister had been through a lot recently and he could allow her a little time to catch up. She had barely made it back to the Silver Keep with reincarnates alive and once there she had been unconscious nearly ninety-six hours. That had been enough time for Luna and Artemis to escort the sisters to moon, Setsuna to work her magic and their mother to convene the Council for judgment. Also, as soon as Rini was returned to her parents Setsuna and Serenity were summoned to testify in the matter before the Council. So he would not grudge his sister her leisure... Besides, Rini was a great kid and he had considered asking Sets if she might possibly be his grandchild, or even his twin's.
That thought drew him back to the matter at hand and Andrew lowered his voice. "Your father's name was Fred?" he asked incredulously. The father of his best friend and possibly the most powerful human alive had been called Fred? How... ordinary!
Darien raised an eyebrow, amused at Andrew's disappointment. "What? Were you expecting Beelzebub or something?"
Honestly, it wouldn't have surprised the Lunarian man but that was probably not the most diplomatic thing he could say. "Well," he prevaricated, "When my best friend informs me that after nearly fifteen years his childhood amnesia is gone I expected a little more than, 'My dad's name was Fred'!"
Darien hid a smile in his coffee but Andrew saw it anyway and didn't bother to conceal his own, answering, grin. For a moment he wondered at a glimpse of something in his friend's expression and then dismissed it. He had never seen Darien as excited as he had been that morning when he'd met him at the arcade doors. His friend had been so worked up after awaking to a complete set of memories that he'd gone to the arcade at half past seven in the morning and waited half an hour for Andrew to arrive for work. His sister had done a wonderful thing in returning Darien's lost years, even if she had stolen a week or so of his past while she was at it.
"So, other than Fred, what else do you remember?"
Darien put his cup down and recited, not quite calmly, "My mother was Mara Chiba, I had a dog called Thorn, my best friend was my next door neighbour, Kip the Jyp, and I absolutely hated cigarette smoke."
"Big surprise!" Andrew muttered sarcastically. As if the both of them hadn't known that for years!
Darien rolled his eyes but continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "We lived in a small cottage an hour or so out of Tokyo and both of my parents loved to garden. Dad liked trees and hedges while my mother preferred vegetable and herb gardens. They'd started to teach me how to take care of plants and I even had my own little flower bed where I had planted roses."
"Of course, what else?"
Darien shrugged, not at all embarrassed that his tastes had changed so little over the years. "My father's parents died when he was a teenager, his only brother a little later and my mother's father when I was about five. I don't remember anything about my mother's mother, I think she might have died giving birth to my mother."
"So you have no family?" Andrew questioned, disappointed for Darien's sake. Part of his friend's need to remember had been the desire to know if he was truly alone or if he still had family somewhere.
Darien's faced closed for a moment and then cleared. "I think my mother had a brother that became estranged around the same time my parents married and I think he had a couple of children but I can't be sure. I was too young to pay much attention to what my parents said other than that 'Uncle Aaron' had gotten another girl in trouble."
Andrew raised his eyebrows. "A black sheep, huh?"
"Maybe," Darien replied thoughtfully, "But I won't know until I meet him."
"So you're going to track him down?"
"Of course. What else would you..." He trailed off and gaped at something over Andrew's shoulder.
The blonde frowned. His friend had the singularly most moronic expression on his face that Andrew had ever witnessed. "Darien? Hello? Anyone in there?"
"Simply beautiful," the human male murmured. With a shock Andrew realised that for the first time in his knowledge he was seeing his friend love-struck and he whirled to see the paragon who had to have just walked in the door.
"-and so a year later I arrive home to find him in front of my door in all his splendour. There was no mistaking who and what he was then and he asked me, 'have you thought on my request my love?' I nodded dumbly and after a moment, in which I suspect he waited for my answer, he asked, 'will thou say yea or nay?' I was still too stunned and he became impatient and demanded, 'come on Setsuna, yes or no. It's not that hard.' I just stared at him, unable to believe that it was really happening and he gave up and kissed me. Now how could I ever say no to him when he did that? The rest is, as they say, history."
Andrew felt like bashing his head on the bench. Of all the woman in the universe for Darien to fall for he had to find a Law Keeper who was most definitely wed to her god. His sister sensed some of his frustration and glanced at him for the merest instant and smiled from Setsuna's side. Setsuna nodded to him, then both woman went to greet Rini and Andrew turned back to Darien.
"She's gorgeous, I'll give you that Dare, but personally I prefer my ladies to have lighter hair," he commented and didn't bother to hide his weariness. The man deliberately went out of his way to be contrary, Andrew was sure, otherwise why else would it be so hard for the son of Selene to set him up?
Darien didn't notice his aggravation, distracted as he was, and his reply was dreamy. "If her hair was any paler, it'd be white. No, she's perfect already. That hair, those eyes, her lips, her body!"
Her body indeed, Setsuna would not appreciate being mentally undressed, although the evidence that Darien's self control had not eradicated his hormones was reassuring. Suddenly Andrew did a double take. "You mean the blonde?!" He choked and started to cough. Darien broke out of his daze and thumped him on the back until his breath came regularly once more. "You mean the blonde?" he repeated in an urgent whisper and Darien nodded.
"Of course, who else? I mean forget her sheer physical beauty and look at that killer smile. With a smile like that she has to be beautiful inside as well and... She's talking to the kid you're babysitting! Do you know her?"
"Rini is in Setsuna's care," Andrew replied, absently repeating part of the cover story he'd been using for the last week. Darien was ogling his sister, the girl he would have died rather than ever be polite to! It was just too weird. There was also the little problem that he would no longer remember the warning Andrew had given him and even if he had his sister no longer looked like the fourteen year old girl Darien had known.
"I don't care about the brunette," Darien interrupted his train of thought impatiently. "The blonde, Andrew, the blonde!"
Andrew felt his eyes widen at the slightly unhinged quality to his friend's voice. "Forget about her Darien," he said quickly, hoping to avoid trouble. "Usagi's taken."
"Usagi..." Darien mumbled dreamily and then blinked. "Taken?"
Andrew nodded mutely. He felt guilty when Darien's face fell with disappointment but it was better now than later. His twin was meant for someone else, most likely the being with the golden energy signature that Darien himself had seen in her future. Probably the same being who had sent both Lunarians strength when they struggled to prevent the Earth from being torn apart. Damn, it was a pity that the man didn't remember even having the vision. "I'm sorry Dare."
The young man pulled himself together and soon it was the old, aloof, Darien who looked through indigo eyes. "Don't think about it," he said calmly, "It was only a temporary aberration on my part, I'm sure. I'm not myself today otherwise my hormones would not have rioted as they just did." He stood and stepped away from the counter. "I'll see you later Andy, I want to start looking for my prodigal uncle." With that the he stalked quickly out of the arcade and Andrew watched in silence.
As ever, the reincarnate's perception and taste was impeccable, unfortunately he was not satisfied with a nice human girl. "No," Andrew muttered, "He has to choose my sister! That's even worse than falling for Sets." He sighed once more and joined the three females near the Sailor V game.
"What was that all about?" Serenity asked him and he grunted.
"Nothing much, just something which indicates that if you and Darien had met under better circumstances then you probably would have had him twisted around your little finger within seconds."
She was silent for a moment before she retorted weakly, "But that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun..."
"No, it wouldn't. Ah well, come and sit over here so we can talk a bit before you take Rini." They followed him and he found a couple of extra stools in the back room. "OK Usa," he started, cheering up, "You said you needed some help paying a bet?"
***
She stepped out of the portal from the fourth dimension and squeaked in an undignified manner when she almost ran into Setsuna. She stared at the other Law Keeper for a moment, she had just left her to return Rini to the future after all, but the shrugged off her surprise. She really didn't want to know how she managed to be in two places at the same time, it no doubt involved the manipulation of time in some way and that was a practice that Serenity avoided altogether.
Without a word they fell in to step and made their way to the centre tower of the keep. Several minutes, and many flights of stairs, later they passed through an open archway into the workspace at the highest point of the keep. There was no roof, just a stone banister made out of the same marble as the rest of the keep. It wasn't an enormous area but it wasn't small either. In the centre a symmetric circle of darker marble marked the white floor. It was about five metres in diameter and within it stood the seven surviving members of the Darkmoon family. Outside, at opposite sides, of the circle her old tutors and fellow guardians stood watch on the prisoners. Luna was in yellow silk robes, the staff in her hand taller than she was. Artemis wore armour very similar to the suit that Serenity wore, the main difference was that his wasn't adapted for someone with wings.
Before the group were the final two beings present and Setsuna and she separated to stand with their respective liege. For a moment Serenity considered Chronos out of the corner of his eye in light of the story she had learned a few hours earlier. It wasn't that she regarded the immortal with awe it was just she could think of him from the point of view of an interested woman. She gave it up silently, it was impossible for her to think of him as anything but a beloved uncle. Her mother pinched her telekinetically and she hurriedly gathered her thoughts. Even as she began to focus on the coming trial, the group was surrounded by light.
Serenity felt the awesome minds of her mother's peers greet her and she calmly laid out her memories of the entire week she had spent on Earth. Nearby those of the Darkmoon were similarly inspected as was Setsuna but she forgot about it as she relieved her time as Bunny Tsukino. Events flashed before her eyes and she felt their approval of her spell casting on the sixth day when the Darkmoon appeared in Earth's sky. She felt their amusement at Darien's actions not long after and one of the Council even suggested a possible means of retribution for the bold mauling he had given her. Yet all levity vanished as they lived through the final battle with her and witnessed the destruction of the Doom Phantom through her eyes. When they withdrew from her memories they did so almost humbly and from more than one she caught the impression of... awe?
HIGH LADY SELENE. LORD CHRONOS.
Serenity's thoughts froze. Such a mental presence could be only one being and in the shock of its proximity she barely registered the subtle details that she perceived about it. Absently she made note of them for later consideration although one little titbit of information was more than a little surprising. She had always thought of the speaker as a he…
IN CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH MORE THAN A SINGLE OF THY NUMBER ARE WRONGED THE ACCUSED ARE TO BE BROUGHT BEFORE THE COUNCIL FOR JUDGMENT. AS HAS BEEN DONE
THE CHARGES LAID NEED BE HEARD BY A QUORUM OF THY NUMBER. AS HAS BEEN DONE.
TIS THE OPINION OF THY FELLOWS THAT THE MORTALS PRESENTED ARE GUILTY OF TRESPASSING AGAINST BOTH OF THEE. IF ONE WILL NOT SURRENDER CLAIM THEN THE COUNCIL SHALL ASSIGN A SENTENCE.
*Nay, Great One. Twill not be necessary. Selene and I have discussed our possible courses of action and have decided on one which we both find acceptable.*
CONTINUE CHRONOS.
*As was seen from Law Keeper Serenity's testimony, these mortals, although wrongful in their intent against Earth, only broke our laws at the urging of a power greater than they. Their actions were not performed clearly of free will and so both I and Selene recommend leniency.*
YET THEIR ACTIONS ENDANGERED A SOUL MOST PRECIOUS AND ALLOWED THE DARKHEART TO THREATEN THE RENEWAL. DOTH THEE ADVISE THAT THEY BE FREED OF ALL RESPONSIBILITY?
*Nay great one, Chronos and I suggest that they be allowed an opportunity to repay the trouble they have caused.*
I LISTEN SELENE.
*I have but five guardians in all and two of that number are occupied on Earth, leaving their fellows, among them the Precious Lady, to patrol the boundaries of my interdiction as well as fulfil the other duties I have requested of them. I would ask that those of the Darkmoon are given the responsibilities of watchman that my guardians may be freed for other duties, most especially my Guardian whom is often distracted from her healing projects to investigate minor anomalies.*
YOU WOULD APPOINT THOSE WHO WERE YOUR DAUGHTER'S ENEMIES AS YOUR SENTINELS, EVEN KNOWING THAT THE LIFE OF MY OWN HEIR WOULD BE IN THEIR HANDS?
*My daughter is not so easily dismissed even should treachery prove to be the case. More like it be the betrayers rather than the betrayed that suffers. Thus I say yes, 'tis worth the risk to rehabilitate these souls.*
For a moment there was only silence. It was as if the entire universe awaited the answer to the petition of Selene and Chronos.
AS THOU HAST WILLED IT, SO SHALL IT BE. DOTH THOU HEAR MORTALS? THY LIFE IS SPARED BUT NOT WITHOUT PRICE AND THE PRICE OF FUTURE PERFIDY IS INFINITELY HIGHER. THY MINDS ARE THINE OWN ONCE MORE AND THOU SHALT TAKE THE NAME OF NEWMOON TO SIGNIFY THY RESCUE FROM DOOM. MEET THE FUTURE WITH GREATER WISDOM THAN THOU DID THE PAST AND THOU SHALT PROSPER.
Serenity felt the minds of the newly named Newmoon family retreat and, one by one, the Divine Stars around also departed, though never without a final salutation. She was about to follow when the heavy presence surrounded her and her alone.
PRECIOUS LADY SERENITY, LONG HAVE I AWAITED THY COMING.
Awe almost overwhelmed her but some part of her refused to be cowed, even by one such as the Heart of the Universe. *So I have recently discovered,* she responded respectfully but with the faintest hint of levity. The levity grew more pronounced when the Speaker showed no sign of disapproval. *I may not suppose there has been a mistake or that You can change thy mind?*
NAY PRECIOUS LADY. THOU ART THE ONE, THERE IS NO DOUBT REMAINING.
*I am going to kill Frog-face for this, it is entirely his fault. If only he had not given me the Crystal...*
THY CHEER IN SUCH A TIME IS A WONDROUS THING.
*I joke because I am terrified.*
PRECIOUS LADY, THOU ART ALL THAT I HAVE HOPED FOR AND MORE. TRUST IN THYSELF AND THE SOULS THAT TRULY LOVE THEE AND THOU SHALL PERFORM MIRACLES. WE SHALL MEET AGAIN PRECIOUS LADY, TSAAYONARA MITHRILLEA LYLLISAEN.
She was sent a wordless burst of strength and then he was back in her own body. She opened her eyes to see her mother smile at her from where she spoke with Chronos and Setsuna, Artemis and Luna listened to both deities quietly. She turned her attention to the Newmoon family to find that they were staring at her in awe.
"Would you lot quit that?" she snapped irritably in English.
Catzi spoke uncertainly, "You told us your name was Usagi..."
"It is," she replied shortly and Diamond looked at her sceptically and she had to admit that he wasn't half bad when he was in his right mind. She sighed. "It is what my friends call me and, since we are all going to be working quite closely, I think it might be a good idea for us to forget the formalities unless they are absolutely necessary." They all still looked unsure, she restrained another sigh and decided to change the subject.
"Have you noticed what the Speaker changed along with your name?" They were unified in their bafflement and she touched the golden crescent on her forehead. Sapphire looked down at Prisma and his eyes widened. Slowly the rest of them caught on and Serenity started to smile. Their crescent insignia had been rotated until the tips faced up as her own did, and, instead of the former black, the markings all shone silver. "I have to say that it's an improvement," she drawled.
"I am glad you believe so my precious Serenity," her mother's voice interrupted the family's babbling. The Lunarian queen walked to her daughter's side and surveyed her new subjects. "For as soon as Setsuna has erased their knowledge of the future, we must introduce our new sentinels to the court." She suddenly smiled in a manner very like Serenity's own grin. "I think perhaps we have an excuse to celebrate."
Serenity brightened and her expression of delight mirrored her mother's. "And if that not enough we can have a feast honouring Sapphire and Prisma's soul-bond." The two in question blushed and looked away but their hands remained tightly clasped.
*Yes that is perfect Mama, only one more thing.*
*What?*
*We have to introduce Diamond to some other Lunarian girls.*
***
Rini rested her head on Usagi's shoulder, she could not think of the older girl as Serenity. It was almost time for the warrior to leave and although Rini knew she would see Usagi's future self shortly, those two selves were distinct personalities separate from each other, Rini would miss the younger version. A stray feather from one of Usagi's wings floated onto her fist and she caught it before it blew away. She would have at least this to remind her of her time in the past. She would put it in LunaP when Puu had finished fixing her.
"I'll miss you Usagi," she whispered and felt the other girl place a soft kiss on the top of her head.
"And I you, Spore." Usagi lowered her to what passed for the ground in the fourth dimension and kneeled so that they could look directly at one another. Her sapphire gaze glittered strangely and Rini realised that her defender had tears in her eyes. Usagi smiled weakly and softly stroked her cheek. "I am honoured to have had the chance to meet you Rini and I hope that I shall meet you again in the future."
"You will!" Rini exclaimed and threw herself at Usagi for a hug. "I promise, you will."
"Small Lady," Puu warned and Rini sighed. She must not let on to Usagi what would happen in the future.
"Sorry Puu," she whispered as she pulled back from the blonde.
"One final question Spore," Usagi asked hoarsely. She swallowed heavily and continued more clearly, "I can get my hands on the Crystal if you still want it-"
"No need," Puu interrupted again and Rini fidgeted uneasily. Puu place a hand on her shoulder and she calmed quickly. "Asking Small Lady to seek out the Crystal was to ensure that Endymion would remember it when the time came and so he did."
"I guess," Usagi replied thoughtfully and stood up. "But she sure knows a lot about it." Rini started to worry again, did Usagi suspect?
Puu actually laughed. "In Small Lady's time you have passed into legend and your deeds are widely told to all. In that era the Crystal is no longer hoarded in secrecy and is almost as renowned as you, yourself."
Rini blinked in admiration, Puu really knew how to tell the truth without telling secrets. To her surprise though, Usagi did not look all that pleased to know that she was going to be famous in fact she looked slightly ill.
"Usagi?"
"Don't worry Spore, I just have some issues to work out that's all."
Rini did worry but Puu shook her head. "Remember, I will always be here for you if you need me Usa."
"I know Sets and thank you. Heart bless thee Setsuna."
"And the Speaker thee, Serenity."
Usagi smiled and turned back to Rini. Her voice became strangely heavy and yet ringing as she said, "Ara mikonniu jiru jornanayn kirlaen... fy lyllisae Mithrillea lirreial."
May all that is blessed protect you... my precious Small Lady.
Rini closed her eyes rather than risk Usagi seeing her tears as she left.
Warm arms closed around her from behind and Rini's eyes darted open. She knew this touch and it could not be again so soon unless... She whirled in her mother's arms and grasped the immortal woman in a strangle hold around the neck. "Mama!"
"Hush now Small Lady, I am here, all is well. I promise you, all is well." her mother's voice was gentle and loving just as she remembered it and it had been so long since she had last heard. Far longer than the handful of days she had spent as a refugee in the past. "I am so proud of you my wonderful daughter. Because of you I am free from my crystal protections and your father is near fully healed."
Rini shuddered in relief. The two most important people to her were safe and soon they would all be together. Yet before she returned she had a final question to ask. She looked into her mother's magical sapphire eyes with her own ruby gaze. "So that was how it began? That was the start of everything?"
Her mother laughed, a musical ripple that heartened Rini to hear. "One could say that everything began the moment the Heart of the Universe created the Imperium Silver Crystal and charged a human warrior to guard it. Or the moment that Thanatos released ten souls from his realm into Selene's care. Or even the moment that my brother and I, two new silver lights, came into existence. What you have seen was but one beginning and only one of many."
"So does the story ever end?"
"A chapter may end but the story itself is eternal." Her mother's eyes were full of wisdom and Rini wondered at the secrets they also held.
"Would you like to see how that particular chapter ended Small Lady?" Puu asked with a smile and Rini nodded eagerly. Although she wished to see her father again she also wanted to know how her friends in the past had become the people she had grown up knowing. Puu's smiled widened and she looked at Rini's mother. "Well My Queen, shall I show her?"
"I have no objections... other than to your irritating habit of being formal. Sets don't 'my queen' me! I do have a name!" Mama tried to sound stern but Rini knew she wasn't upset by the way she shook with restrained laughter.
"Several, I know," Puu responded and raised an eyebrow mischievously. "I do believe the next part began with a dream."
Mist gathered before the trio and Puu knelt beside Rini and her mother as all three peered at the image that formed before them. Rini blinked. It showed her mother... in Darien's dream... and she was naked!
"Oh no Sets!"
"Oh yes my friend, oh yes. You of all people know that Darien never once in his life dreamt of you with your clothes on and his dreams are where we shall begin the next part."
***
"What is in a name?" she asked and he smiled at her. She was cradled in his arms, both of them laying on a branch in a megalith of a tree. Ten moons were visible in the sky and she had shown him how to pick out the invisible three with his othersenses. The orange sky darkened as the distant sun sank below the horizon.
"A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet," he murmured to her and she nodded.
"That's right, so why are names so important to you?"
He looked down at her shifting features. Her face changed, moment by moment, so that he could never tell exactly what she looked like and he yearned for the chance to be able to memorise her features against the day when she would inevitably be taken from him. "To know a soul's name is to know the soul itself," he answered softly.
"But a soul can be called many things," she protested.
"Maybe but it can have only one name, and that is the name by which the soul's true and eternal partner shall know it."
"Oh, and what's yours?"
"I don't know it yet," he replied sadly.
"I do," she whispered. She looked at him and he gasped at the love in her blue orbs. "You are Mamoru."
He rolled the syllables around in his mouth. "Mamoru..." It fit better than any of the other names he had gone by but it was still not quite right. There was still something missing with it and it had to do with his lover.
"It means protector in the high language," she told him.
"And you would call me that?" he asked.
"No," she answered, "It is not quite right on my tongue."
He grinned and leaned down to press their mouths together. Their lips parted and the tongue in question delicately touched his. When they separated again he whispered, "You know my name, and you know me but who are you?"
"Can't you see?" she responded with sad eyes and started to pull away.
"Wait!" he protested and tried to prevent her from slipping out of his arms. "You keep changing how can I see you?"
Wings lifted her into the air, she looked at him and he flinched at the loneliness and despair they now showed. "We are all called many things but have only one name. To know my name you must know me."
Her sapphire eyes remained constant in her shifting features and she floated further away from him. She was leaving him with nothing of herself, not even a name, to treasure and he reached out helplessly. She had so many faces which was the true one? He searched desperately but light began to leak from her and she was obscured by a bright ball of white light. Then the ball faded into nothingness and, too late he realised what he had seen. She was warrior and healer, princess and servant, serenity and turmoil. She was the light of hope, she was-
***
"USAGI!"
It was midnight in Tokyo and a bereft young man cried into his pillow for the first time in years. He had realised what it was he had lost but too late to prevent it. His one solace was that he had not been left with nothing. He had a name and he had his memories. It was small consolation yet without it his spirit would have shrivelled for his was a soul that had brushed too close to a future star.