Disclaimer: all SM characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi. But I do own this story. If you like it, review it, fav it, bookmark it. But please don't steal it!

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Everybody's looking for that something, one thing that makes it all complete.
You'll find it in the strangest places.
Places you never knew it could be.
Some find it in the face of their children.
Some find it their lover's eyes.
Who can deny the joy it brings,
when you've found that special thing
you're flying without wings.

Some find it sharing every morning.
Some in their solitary lives.
You'll find in the words of others;
a simple line can make you laugh or cry.
You'll find it in the deepest friendship.
The kind you cherish all your life.
And when you know how much that means,
you've found that special thing.
You're flying without wings.

So, impossible as they may seem,
you've got to fight for every dream.
'Cause who knows which one you let go
would have made you complete?

Well, for me it's waking up beside you,
to watch the sun rise on your face.
To know that I can say 'I love you'
in any given time or place.
It's little things that only I know.
Those are the things that make you mine.
And it's like flying without wings,
'cause you're my special thing.
I'm flying without wings.

And you're the place my life begins
and you'll be where it ends,
I'm flying without wings.

(Flying without wings - Westlife)

Epilogue

He saw the car parking right outside. Another one followed, and he saw Makoto carrying what he could only guess was the brunette's latest piece of art.

Without bothering on looking who has come along with her, knowing they would all be there any minute now, he stepped away from the window.

He could hear Haruka waltzing around in the kitchen, and he knew everything was being taken care of. There was only one last thing.

He made his way to the living room, stopping right in the threshold that marked the beginning of the backyard, and looked outside. A soft, proud, filled with love and amazement smile made it to his lips as he saw his little girl sitting there, on her play mat, with her tobbles all around her as she stacked and un-stacked them; the shadow of their maple tree and her little white hat offering shelter from the sun, as a faithful Kalina laying right next to her offered company.

The moment Yoshiko was born, Kalina had abandoned her beloved spot under the coffee table. Instead, she could always be found wherever Yoshiko was; laying on the tiled floor when they gave her a bath, sitting next to her table chair when they fed her, or sleeping right next to the cradle in the nights.

On her own, Kalina had decided to be Yoshiko's faithful bodyguard. And she was immensely patient with the infant, not once acting on her when chubby little hands would pull a little too hard from her ears or her tail, and always ready and willing to lay down on her belly, letting those same chubby little hands run all over her back.

A soft breeze made the little hat fly off and away, making the soft mop of jet black hair dance around her head. And, frowning curiously, he saw as his little baby girl laughed and clapped her hands happily, looking up at something.

Which was, nothing at all.

And yet Yoshiko was giggling happily at something. And, whatever it was, Kalina seemed to be able to see it too, for the dog lifted up her face, tail lazily waging around a little.

Curiously, he stepped outside and made his way to his baby girl. A wave of nostalgia washing over him and shrinking his heart as he felt it; it was there, in the air all around, dancing and caressing his daughter's cheeks and playing with her hair.

And then a wide, proud smile came to his lips when a happy squeal welcomed him. Kalina barked to him as well, and he chuckled as a pair of small little arms extended up to him; chubby little hands clenching and unclenching, asking to be lifted up.

He complied, taking his daughter in his arms. "What are you laughing at, huh?" he asked, playfully and tenderly poking her nose, only for her to giggle more, throwing her little arms in the air and mumbling incoherently in her baby language.

The soft breeze blew again, caressing his cheeks, and he let out a sigh, looking around, hoping to see what his daughter was seeing, but knowing he wouldn't. He couldn't see it, but he knew it was there. And when he thought he saw a small fire butterfly fading in the air, he knew he was right.

Again, nostalgia washed over him. Pain, longing, and that heartbreaking sense of loss invaded him, with only the giggling girl in his arms saving him from drowning completely. And as he looked into her shining, happy eyes, as green as her mother's, those emeralds he loved so much, he knew, he may had lost everything once, but he had so much now…

Kissing his daughter's forehead, he reacomodated her in his arms, only to make her giggle again.

"Whatcha say, birthday girl?" he asked, playfully. "Ready to go in and say hi to your aunts?"

The only answer he got for that was another happy giggle as Yoshiko wrapped her little arms around his neck. And as he was ready to get back inside, he turned and look around one last time.

"Goodbye, Princess," he whispered into the air and that fading scent of fresh olives, just as Yoshiko waved her hand.

.-.

Red eyes watched as he stepped inside, carrying his daughter in his arms, and a soft sigh escaped ethereal lips.

"You shouldn't be here, Princess," she said to the slender, lone figure.

She didn't know exactly how she had managed to get here in the first place.

She knew certain events could cause the threshold between worlds to mix, creating a temporary vortex where worlds met. And she was well aware of the events of the past two years had been nothing short of life changing. But, though she could understand and sympathize with the Princess, the redhead had been around for too long already.

Another sigh escaped the ethereal figure; red eyes not once leaving the figure that now moved inside the house, welcoming his brothers and laughing along with them.

"Will they be alright?"

A small smile made it to her lips. "You have nothing to worry about, Princess," she simply answered. "They will all be perfectly fine."

Red eyes turned to look at her then, and the Princess smiled. "They'll be happy," she said. "All of them. Right?"

Again, she smiled, nodding her head.

"Watch over them for me," came the soft request.

"Of course," she said, nodding her head.

The princess nodded as well and, looking back one last time, she finally turned to her, smiling. "Alright, then," she said, nodding her head again.

With a flick of her hand, her staff appeared out of nowhere. With one last understanding nod towards the Princess, and returning the smile, she wiggled her staff around, just a little; the Garnet Rod shining brightly and proudly as the ethereal figure faded away.

Letting out a sigh, she took a look around, purely out of habit; she already knew there was no one around. And no one could see her, anyway. Not for now, at least.

Shaking herself, she let out another sigh, before letting her powers fold in. A white, flooding mist engulfed her for a moment, and within seconds, she was standing there, in the middle of her friends' backyard, wearing the white skinny pants, an off the shoulder dip-dyed coral summer sweater and matching coral flats she had been wearing earlier that morning, when she left the house.

Walking in through the sliding doors, she didn't bother on coming up with an excuse; the others were by now used to her 'mysterious ways', and knew better than to ask where she was coming from whenever she didn't show up the traditional, normal way. Although, to her credit, she did make an effort on not showing up in their houses out of the blue, ringing the bell and then using the door instead.

Everyone was already sitting around the large table that had been set up just for the occasion. Ami was holding a happy looking Yoshiko as Minako kept her entertained, making funny faces just for her and making her laugh and giggle happily.

She saw her tall blonde friend taking the sippy cup and filling it with apple juice, and then lovingly handing it to her daughter. And as the giggling girl accepted the offered drink, grabbing it with both hands and drinking soundly to then put the cup in the table, letting out a sigh, a smile made it to her lips.

"Come sit with your favorite uncle," Yaten said, extending his hands out to the baby girl.

And when she happily accepted, throwing her little arms in her uncle's direction, the purple eyed man made a tsk sound. "Don't you think you should let her decide that?" Taiki pointed out. "Besides, everyone knows I'm the favorite uncle," he added, taking a sip from his drink.

"Oh, please!" Yaten exclaimed, rolling his eyes to his brother as he took his niece in his arms. "You'd be the boring one, taking her to museums and reading her stories. I'm the fun one, here."

"Let's not forget who's the one making her feel better when she's ill and then making her smile with a treat," Mamoru put in, as he cut a small piece of cake.

He gave it to Yoshiko, and the girl opened her mouth wide and big, accepting the offered treat. Placing both her hands over her mouth to prevent the cake from falling off -and all over her little aqua green dress-, she munched happily, looking up at the future King with wide, happy green eyes.

"Buying her off with food," Yaten pointed out, shaking his head in disapproval. "Shame on you."

Mamoru shook his shoulder, completely unaffected, and everyone laughed.

"Well, look at that!" Minako exclaimed. "Only one year old, and she already has three men fighting for her heart!" she said, smiling widely and proudly.

"She had them all wrapped around her little finger the moment she was born," Rei stated, nodding her head.

"Specially this one," Haruka added, pointing at her husband with her head.

"Guilty as charged," he admitted, palms up in the air in surrender as a sided, proud smile made it to his lips.

"Yeah, but… imagine what she would be like when she's sixteen!" Minako continued. "She would have men eating out of the palm of her hand!"

"Not if I can help it," Seiya put in, frowning. The smile on his lips said he was joking, though everyone knew, the singer's -and his wife's- overprotective tendencies towards his daughter was something little Yoshiko would have to fight against when growing up.

And as everyone laughed, she smiled. If only they knew…

There would only be five important men in Yoshiko's life -her daddy irrevocably occupying the first place-, all of which she would be related to in some way or another.

She hadn't lied to the Fireball Princess; they were all going to be perfectly fine. Although the future was not set in stone, fate and destiny had a way of always playing their cards. There would be a few detours here and there, she was sure, but certain events were meant to happen, regardless of the particular situations around. And as she looked at the little toddler giggling happily at her father, she knew, that little girl would make her parents scared, proud, angry and thrilled, in many, many different ways.

She was going to grow up to truly be her parents' daughter. She would be strong and fast and very athletic, and would succeed and outstand on every sport and activity she'd landed her green eyes on. She would fall in love with her father's guitar at a young age, and will train and master the art of singing, being the owner of a strong, deep, beautiful voice, just like her daddy. And just like her mother, she would develop a love for speed and adrenaline, particularly for motorcycles; a fact that would give her parents a few headaches, along with more than one 'she's your daughter' accusing line.

She was going to grow up to become a strong, powerful Senshi. The first of her kind, for there would be more. But, true to both her parents and their legacy, she would be the strongest, and their leader. And, just like both her parents, she was going to develop a deep, particularly soft spot for her Princess, though not as soft as her baby brother…

Oh, yes, there was another one coming. And though the siblings' fights and arguments would become legendary, with their pranks and fighting matches being something worthy of seeing -but by no means something anyone in their right mind would want to get in the middle of-, Yoshiko would be a wonderful, very protective big sister.

With short jet black hair, she would be the vivid image of Sailor Star Fighter, but would resemble her mother in everything else; with the same fierce green eyes, she would be strong willed, opinionated, charming, stubborn, self confident, protective, and more than a little cocky -though that was a treat she would inherit from both her parents. Her brother, on the other hand, would be an exact male replica of Haruka, with the only exception of his eyes; with rebel blonde hair, tall and strong, he would be the proud owner of a charming smile and a pair of deep blue eyes that would melt and win over more than just one heart. Set minded but easy going, rash but focused, he would grow up to be just like his father; charming, self confident and flamboyant, but just as capable of being serious, becoming a fast, agile, and deadly dangerous warrior.

Fate and destiny sure loved their funny ways. And, to everyone's surprise and amusement, they would follow right after their parents' steps, and beyond. While he would fall for, and later on court and betroth the future Princess, Yoshiko would only have eyes for the future daughter of one particular violinist. Something both mothers would find rather funny and ironically amusing, to their daughters utter surprise, eternal embarrassment and filled with awkwardness shock when finding out the truth about their mothers' past. The fact that they would grow up as cousins only adding to their awkwardness, which will be, of course, the reason why it will take so long for the teenagers -quite a couple of year in Yoshiko's case, with the object of her affection being two years younger- to act upon their feelings. But with that dealt with, they would be completely devoted to each other, protective, loving, encouraging, and zealous.

But there was a decade, a century, and then a few more years to come before all that. The second little offspring had yet to come, and Yoshiko had a few years of being an only child ahead. And in between then and now, she had a few little adventures and anecdotes to star in first.

Though she could stand up and give a few shaky steps, she had yet to give up the safety of crawling to start walking around instead. And then give her mother more than one heart attack when getting the hand of it too fast too easily, sneaking around in the blink of an eye. She had yet to master the ability of putting on her own swimsuit by herself without mixing up the straps, and cry her little eyes out when falling off her free-of-training-wheels bike for the first time. She had yet to learn how to speak, and then a long road ahead before she would stop calling her uncle 'Aten' -a little kiddy nickname that would melt the lime green eyed man, each and every time.

She had a long way to go before her father would lecture her, telling her it was not ok to get into a fight with other kids, no matter what they called her baby brother. And even longer before she would consider the soldiers in training are in need of some serious lesson, making both her mother and her aunt Makoto angry at her for the end result of broken noses, black eyes and several bruises to which a really long lecture about learning how to keep her temper in check would inevitably follow.

She had yet to do all those things and more. But for now, she was just a little girl, sitting on her uncle's lap and incoherently babbling, not really aware of the fact they were celebrating her very first birthday, but just happy that she was surrounded by the people who loved her.

Green eyes looked at her, as if the little future troublemaker knew she was just thinking about her. Not that that was possible, but still…

Regardless of the future little pranks and a mischief or two, she knew she would never be able to stay mad at her for long. And when Yoshiko gifted her with a wide, happy smile, chubby little hands clutching a beloved teddy to her chest, she knew she was right; that little girl surely knew how to win everyone over with just one smile.

"You're too much like your parents for your own good," she grunted, not completely able to fight off the small smile off her face as she took a spoon and, cutting a small piece of Makoto's work-of-art cake, she offered it to the girl, only for Yoshiko to open her mouth wide and big, eagerly accepting it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Haruka asked, arching a questioning, slightly offended eyebrow.

"Nothing," she said. "It's between Yoshiko and me," she stated, tenderly poking the girl's pointy little nose and making her giggle.

"Is there something you know and I don't?" the blonde asked.

"You do realize that's a really stupid question, right?" Michiru pointed out.

"Yeah, but, she has a way of saying my daughter's just like me," the blonde started.

"Us," Seiya corrected her.

"And really making it sound like 'she'll be a pain in my ass'," Haruka finished, not paying attention to her husband's correction, and arching a questioning eyebrow her way instead.

She snorted. "Please! She's your daughter, not mine," she reminded her. "I appreciate your concern, but my ass won't be in any kind of pain."

"Should I be worried, here?" Seiya asked, frowning lightly, though he was obviously finding the entire conversation kind of funny.

"You're a father," she simply pointed out. "It's your job to worry," she reasoned.

"And change diapers, and give her a bath," Haruka teased.

"Hey, I do that," he said, raising one long finger. "You know I do."

"And indulge her every whim, being unable to say no to her," the blonde continued, teasingly narrowing her eyes to him.

He shook a shoulder. "I'd probably do that…" he mumbled, admittedly, and then chuckling sheepishly as a general laugh went around the table.

"And over-shelter her, and teach her how to play basketball and ride a bike," the tall woman continued. "We'd probably have an argument over that one, 'cause everyone knows I'm way better than you on that area," she stated, grinning widely when everyone laughed.

"Well, for now," she said to the singer, getting everyone's attention once more, "your only concern should be making sure she won't get chocolate all over her dress," she finished, pointing out at the little girl as she took a piece of cake with her hand, guiding it to her mouth and getting chocolate all over her face.

"Wow!" Yaten exclaimed, taking the girl's hands in his, away from her dress before she could wipe them off in it. "Careful, Yoshi!"

Taking a napkin, Haruka cleaned the girl's hands and face. "Here, baby," she said, tenderly. "Uncle Yaten doesn't know how to take care of you."

"Hey!" the man complained, frowning and clearly offended as everyone just laughed.

Unhappy about being distracted from her cake, Yoshiko whimpered, tossing her face from side to side trying to get away from the cleaning napkin. And then forgot all about it when her mother showed her an only momentarily forgotten beloved teddy and the girl took it, holding it to her chest and nuzzling her cheek against the bear's head, earning herself an echo of Oh's and Ah's going all around the table.

Again, she smiled.

No, she hadn't lied to the Fireball Princess. Just like she hadn't lied to Seiya; as parents, they would both have their fair amount of worrying to do along the way. It was only natural.

It had been quite the rollercoaster, the road that had led them here. But after all the fights, the arguments and disagreements, the pain, the loss, the tears shed, they had finally made it. And there would be more of all that in some way or another; like any other parent, they would make mistakes, and there would be arguments and fights, miscommunications and misunderstandings. But there would also be moments like this one, filled with laughter and jokes and happiness that would make it all worth it.

They would make it through.

And they would go through everything the same way they had done so far; together. Like many times before, and like many more to come, they would find love, happiness and companionship in one another, offering a shoulder to cry on and words of comfort and advice when needed; the two of them, Yoshiko, their friends, and the little ones that had yet to come. All of them, together, like the big, truly unique though maybe a little dysfunctional, happy family they were.

That was, after all, the way of life. Of their life. And this was only the beginning.

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The End

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A.N.: Ok, folks. This is it! A little extra something I wrote to give an end to this story. Hope you liked it. Thank you all for joining me for the ride!

Amy Hunt: I added a little something about the future -in case it wasn't clear, that was from Setsuna's POV-, but I won't be writing about her life. Personally, and not to offend anyone here, I don't really like it when fics go around the Senshi's children; too many OC's, too many names, and way too many stories confuse me and I tend to get… well, bored. I toyed with an idea for a while, but it turned out to be so complicated and long that I just discarded it. Besides, I have other stories I'm currently working on, and ideas for new stories I'd like to get to in the future.
Trust me, it's really hard for me to say goodbye to Fiery Tales, but this is it. I swear that fic is my pride and joy, and I'm not sure I made it justice with this sequel, but, hey! At least it was an interesting ride (for me, at least it was!)

Faia Fire: I researched a little bit, and then added what I already know. I have a niece, a nephew, my cousin has 2 kids, and a girl from work is pregnant; I know a few things, here ;)