Epilogue: On the other side of time

1,783 years later…

"And if you'll allow it, I need to speak to your little rabbit," he said with a devilish smile. He didn't wait for his younger self to respond. He knew the younger man wasn't really okay with it, but he wasn't going to let that stop him.

"Usako," he said enveloping her hand within his own, "Walk with me. I have much to tell you."

She turned a questioning glance over his shoulder toward his younger self even as they strode away.

"Don't you trust me, Usako?" he teased with a gentle smile.

"In all things Mamo-chan," she said softly. That he had just broken her heart went completely unsaid. And he loved her even more if that was possible. She had such devotion and faith in him. The hurt was still there. It could not ever be completely erased. And yet, she still trusted him – still loved him with every fiber of her being.

He squeezed his eyes closed unable to take the fresh pain in her eyes. And unfortunately, he knew it would not be the last time he hurt her.

"I want you to know Usako. The hardest thing about sending him those visions was I knew exactly how much it would hurt you. If I could have done it without involving you I would have."

"I would always choose to share his trials with him," she said angrily.

He smiled sadly, "I know." In fact, she had insisted, but he couldn't tell her that. She had to make that decision herself when the time came. "Doesn't make me feel any less guilty, so I wanted to tell you a few things to make it up to you."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Knowledge of the future and all that?"

"Oh don't worry, I have Sailor Pluto's permission."

Setsuna had told him he could say nothing of the future. But he could say anything at all about his past self as long as it had already happened.

"Sailor Pluto's permission?"

"Oh right. You don't really know what she does yet. Let's just say, I'm not going to tell you anything earth shattering."

She nodded.

"First, he's an orphan," he began.

"I already know that," she said with a gentle smile.

"Yes, I know you do, but what you don't know is that it makes it hard for him to trust anyone. It makes it hard for him to confide in anyone because he's always been alone. He wants to share all of himself with you, but sometimes he doesn't know how. His instinct is always to protect and he doesn't always know how to share the things that are troubling him. He doesn't want to burden anyone else with it, least of all you. Don't let him get away with it."

"I don't want to force him to talk to me," she objected.

The king laughed. "The secret is to just stare at him. He will lose himself in those beautiful sapphire eyes and he'll crumble."

She turned a delightful shade of red and looked down at her feet.

"Spirits, I envy him," he whispered, remembering the shy innocent girl standing in front of him now.

She glanced back up, startled.

"But… he's you."

"Exactly. I know precisely what his future holds. What it would mean to be twenty years old again," he said reminiscently. "Anyway," he interrupted himself. "Where was I?"

"Second?" she offered with a smile.

"Second," he repeated, "never doubt his love. There will be times when he is angry or downright discouraged or just a stubborn moron, but his love for you never waivers. You are his world. This experience was as painful for him as it was for you, because you doubted him."

"But I…" she objected.

"He knows it was unfair. That he pushed you away, encouraged you to do exactly that, but it still hurt. He'll never tell you that. He blames himself far too much for putting you in that position in the first place."

"Isn't he telling me right now?" she asked playfully. He grinned. He supposed that was technically accurate.

"And this last bit is the most important," he began.

"Go on," she encouraged when he paused for dramatic effect.

"He's ticklish."

"What?" she guffawed.

"He is!" he insisted. "His sides, right at his waist," he confided with a conspiratorial wink. She giggled.

"Is it fair of you to be giving away all his weaknesses and insecurities?" she asked teasingly.

"To you? He would thank me. He'd especially thank me for this," he leaned forward whispering his last message in her ear. "Right now, the curse of his nightmare is no more. He just had to bring you here free of his own fear and you trusting in his love. And now, he's feeling horribly jealous watching me stand here talking to you so intimately when he hasn't been able to truly touch you in months."

He pulled back in time to see her eyes widen into huge saucers at the implications. She stared at him for a split second before she bolted right past him into the arms of his former self. He watched them with a smile. All was as it should be.

…

The king woke slowly to the crystal blue eyes of his own princess and queen. His mouth spread into a smile.

"You're okay," he whispered in disbelief, caressing the side of her face.

"He's awake!" she called, her eyes never left his own as she smiled back at him.

"Finally!" Pluto's voice said in exasperation. She was coming in over the communicator. "Ask him why he was fighting me."

"Did it work?" he demanded of the time guardian. "Are the spirits gone?"

"They're still around," Pluto promised. "Just not openly bent on your wife's destruction anymore. You've successfully rewritten history."

He released a huge sigh of relief.

"Hang up," he said brusquely, pulling his princess to him. She fell willingly onto his chest.

"Hey! That's all the gratitude I get? After…" that was as far as she got before the king ended the transmission.

"I want some alone time with a certain Odango Atama."

His queen arched an eyebrow at him. He hadn't used the insulting nickname in centuries, but when he saw her eyes dancing with so many memories he knew it had not been a mistake.

"I love you, Usako."

"I know," she said with a grin before pressing her lips gently to his own.

And now finally, he understood why she always said that. He had never realized how far those two words went in reassuring and delighting him.

…

A/N: This has been quite the ride! I've written twenty-six thousand words in thirteen days! Thank you for joining me through this experience. I very much hope something in it spoke to you. Happy New Year!