[FFML] Untitled Sailor Moon Story

[John Biles]

This story needs a title; I'm open to suggestions.

*************

        o/~ Forty-nine times we fought that beast, your old man and me o/~



        Eternal Sailor Jupiter sat up in bed, wondering what the hell Venus
had reset her alarm clock to play this time.  She gestured and her alarm
turned off; her power over lightning had grown vast in the passage of time.



        Time.



        The face in the mirror was young, though not a child.  But she was
over a thousand years old.  She’d slept through most of it, when the world
had frozen over.  But she still had over a hundred years of experienced
time.



        She scrubbed her face and applied a little makeup; she didn’t
bother with much except for formal occasions; with her job, anything fancy
would be ruined and always by surprise.



        Then the lights flickered and she frowned; she could feel something
wrong with the flow of the electricity.  Probably a problem at the power
station; the city was still rebuilding after the defeat of the Black Moon
Family.



        It was strange; she’d known all her life this crisis would come and
then… they had no idea.  Well, they knew a few times Chibi would travel
into the past, but Chibi never talked about the future then.  After a long
time of knowing their fate… they were free.



        And it was kind of confusing; Jupiter could hardly remember a time
when this doom had not been hanging over them, though in her younger years,
they hadn’t thought about it much.



        They were free; they didn’t have to ensure the loop closed any more.



        She had so many things she wanted to do now that she knew she could
do them.  Or at least try.



        But today, she had the special duty of watching over Chibi.  She’d
decided to call her that; she’d just gotten back from the past and no doubt
was still used to being that or Chibi-Usa.  What she wanted most of all was
for Chibi to feel welcome and at home; after everything she’d been through
in the past, there was no way Chibi wasn’t shaken up.



        So it was time for one of their special days.  She tried once a
week to take Chibi away from all those princess duties and just let her be
a kid with her loving aunt; they’d disguise themselves and go around the
city and do fun things.



        Admittedly harder with so much of it in ruins.



        She turned and went to the window and looked down at the city; you
could see construction crews busy raising new buildings everywhere.  Not
many had died; they had known this was coming, known enough to evacuate
most people in time; some had stubbornly stayed.



        We’re free of that damn fate, she thought, and smiled, but her
smile wobbled.  There had to have been a better way but if they changed
things…



        She’d learned *why* they couldn’t avoid it, but she didn’t like it.



        But enough of that; Jupiter was not one to dwell on the past.



        It was time to go find Chibi.  Admittedly, Chibi was *supposed* to
wait in her room for Jupiter, but Jupiter knew that asking small children
to wait was… something which often failed.



***************



         But to her surprise, Chibi *was* home, sitting in a nice plush
chair next to her bed, busy reading something on a Pane.  The Pane network
was back up; Mercury had seen to that.



        “And so Princess Burrito came to the crossroads at sunset.  There
were three paths and any of them might lead to where her brother had been
taken by the goblins.  What will she do?” a warm male voice said; Jupiter
recognized the voice of Umino Gurio, one of the few people from her youth
who were still alive.



        Jupiter wasn’t sure why; Naru and Gurio had no apparent special
powers… and yet somehow they lived on, along with a few others.  Including
their old junior high English teacher… why *her*?  Though now Ms. Haruna
was Chibi’s tutor.



        And her old friend Shinozaki.  Who currently was governor of
whatever we’re calling Hokkaido now, she thought.  Jupiter *still* wasn’t
good at geography.



        Then it hit her… *this* must be that game Gurio had made for Chibi
and given to her at her last birthday!  “Hey, Chibi,” she said warmly to
Chibi, coming over and leaning down over her chair.  “Why did you name the
heroine Burrito?”



        “I’m not good at names,” Chibi admitted, laughing nervously, so
much like her mother.  “I’m not even sure what it means, but I like the
*sound* of it.”



        “It’s a kind of food,” Jupiter said, studying the princess on the
screen of the Pane, a little kid about Chibi’s age, in a now filthy white
dress, carrying a staff with a glowing crystal, her skin very dark and her
hair long and green.  “Did it let you design your own princess?”



        “Yeah,” Chibi said softly.  “Save game.”



        “Game saved,” the voice of Naru said.



        “Is that… Osaka-san and Umino-san?” Chibi asked hesitantly.



        “It is, but they’re married now and you call them both by their
first names, since they’re your aunt and uncle.”  Jupiter paused.  How
could she have forgotten that?  They came to the weekly private dinner,
where it was just the old gang and they didn’t have to worry about court
protocols and things.



        On the other hand, from her perspective, she’s been gone for
*months*, Jupiter realized. And just got back three days ago.



        Chibi fumbled the Pane and Jupiter had to catch it, then gently put
it back in Chibi’s hands.  “Careful, we can easily get you a new one but
that would make a mess if it broke.”  She tried to hit a note of gentle
chiding; it was important never to lose your temper with small children and
to remember they could be clumsy.  She didn’t want to *scare* her.



        But now she was scared anyway.  “I’m sorry, Lady Jupiter,” Chibi
said frantically.  “I…”  She paused and now put the Pane on her bed and
turned around in the chair to study Jupiter.



        “I’m not mad, I fumble things too, like that time I poured all that
custard on Minako.”  That had been soooo long ago… in fact… “You were
there, right?”



        Now Chibi laughed, then paused.  “What exactly is ‘Tubby’ custard,
anyway?”



        “I don’t know and I don’t want to know, really,” Jupiter said.  Minako
had been in one of her moods where she made less than no sense.  “Some
British thing.”



        She’d decided to provoke Rei for some reason because Rei had gotten
custard as a dessert instead of the tart which Minako had recommended and
now Jupiter finally realized why this had happened.



        Jupiter pushed the memory away.



        “You… you’re Mako-chan, right?” Chibi said very hesitantly.  “When
you’re not transformed?”



        Jupiter frowned and now Chibi looked worried.  How could she not
know that, Jupiter wondered.  “You met us all in the past and we use our
old names at the family dinner each week.  I’m your Aunt Makoto as well as
your guardian Jupiter.  I love you very much.”



        Chibi began to breathe raggedly and Jupiter tried to figure out
what she’d done wrong.



        “I don’t remember any family dinners,” Chibi said, now staring at
the floor.  Her voice was soft.  “The lighting is much nicer everywhere and
there’s a beautiful night sky on the ceiling and the bedsheets are just
like the ones which I had back… in the past.. and…”



        “Oh, we changed the sheets because I thought they would help you
re-adjust,” Jupiter told her and now kneeled down by the chair to look her
in the eye.  “But I’m starting to worry that this time travel scrambled
your brain or something.”



        Maybe it’s some effect from when she got turned into Black Lady.  “When
did you stop remembering things?”



        “Everything is so much nicer now,” Chibi said softly, still
studying her green and blue carpet; it was a giant map of the Earth.  “And
so different.”



        “Well, everything got blown up and is having to be rebuilt,”
Jupiter told her.  “So lots of things are being changed now.”



        Chibi studied her, then sighed.  “Maybe that’s it, but…”



        “But let’s go see Mercury, make sure someone hasn’t scrambled your
brain,” Jupiter said.



        “Can you be Mako-chan for me?” Chibi asked, staring at the wall
now; it looked like its normal lavender shade.  Which Endymion had insisted
on for whatever reason.



        “You can call me anything you want.  What do you want me to call
you?” Jupiter asked her, taking her hand.



        “No, I mean… de-transform back to Mako-chan,” Chibi said; her hand
shivered.  “And call me Chibi-Usa.  It’s what you always did.”



        Well, not always but… Oh, she means in the *past*.  She must have
forgotten a lot, she was gone so long.



        “It really doesn’t change much but sure.”  She relaxed her power,
folding it away, changing to civilian garb in the process, a long green
dress gathered at the waist, with walking boots hidden under the skirt.
“Better?”



        “You look so much older,” Chibi said, looking her up and down.



        “Well, it’s been a thousand years, everyone grows up,” Makoto said
to her, stretching; it felt weird; she rarely detransformed these days.  And
even in this form, she actually still had access to most of her magic, just
not the most powerful stuff.



        “Hug,” Chibi-Usa said fiercely, so Makoto lifted her up and twirled
her around, held in a tight embrace.



        “Let’s go see Mercury… Ami-chan… okay?” Makoto said.  “Wait… have
you had breakfast?”



        “No, you told me we’d go to a café in the city.  I’ve never been in
the city,” Chibi said.  “But I think I know what to do now that I’ve lived
in one.”



        Makoto stared. “You… don’t remember any of our trips?”



        “We… took trips?” Chibi asked, hesitantly.



        Mercury’s lab NOW.



******************



        “There is nothing wrong with her I didn’t already fix on her
return,” Mercury said, after an array of tests, while Makoto had paced back
and forth through the tangled laboratory, feeling her nerves jangled and
glad she was down at a lower power level or she would have shorted out the
lights, she feared.



        She wasn’t allowed to watch horror movies any more.



        “There was something wrong with me when I came back?” Chibi asked,
eyes wide.  She sat on a stool by one of the long tables full of widgets.



        “I just made sure you were clean of disease,” Mercury told her.  “So
you’re having memory problems?”



        “Everything seems different.  There’s new people and people missing
and the castle looks different and apparently I can’t remember going into
the city with Mako-chan and… maybe I’m just dreaming all this,” Chibi said
miserably, staring at the floor.



        “I’ll take a brain scan and you two can go down to the city while I
analyze it; when you come back, I’ll have an answer, okay?” Mercury
said.  “Also,
here, have a lollipop.” She produced a lime green one from… somewhere.



        “I’m not a kid,” Chibi said, but was soon sucking on it and looked
calmer.



        Makoto was not happy; someone had done *something* to Chibi and she
wasn’t going to stand for it.



***************



        “Wow, where are we?” Chibi asked, looking around at the long
hallway, dark green in color and not very well lit.



        “Heading for a secret exit from the palace,” Makoto said.  “Which
you ought to remember.”  Noises rumbled in her throat and Chibi sighed.



        “It’s all so strange,” Chibi said softly.



        “This lets us out into the Imperial Park, where we can catch a
shuttle to where we’re getting breakfast.”  I suppose one good thing is
that she can have one of Jen’s pancakes for the *first time* a second time,
Makoto thought.



        “I’m so hungry,” Chibi said, suddenly wobbling, so Makoto picked
her up and set Chibi on her shoulders.



        “Me too,” Makoto confessed; her stomach rumbled and Chibi laughed
softly and looked happy for once.



        She seemed so melancholy now and that wasn’t her at all.



        Not the way Makoto remembered her, anyway.



******************



        Jen’s Undersea Café was not actually under the sea, but the walls
and ceiling were all giant fish tanks, each with different kinds of sea
life, so it felt like it was under the sea.  And it had a *great* breakfast
menu, ranging from Rigellian Glorce to a traditional Japanese breakfast.  But
the best meal here was anything with the nigh-magically light and fluffy
pancakes.



        Chibi stood the whole time, hands on the wall by their booth,
watching fish swim and a majestic giant turtle slowly making its way around
a rock outcropping which it finally lifted itself onto; sunlight wafted
down into the tank.



        “This is amazing,” Chibi said, eyes wide, hands making circles on
the wall from her excitement.



        “Yeah, we always came here because you loved it.  So… no memory of
it?”  She had hoped maybe they’d come back once she came there.



        “There… I only saw the city from a distance or during rare formal
parades, where I just waved at people,” Chibi said, then shivered.  “But I
loved those parades because I got to sit next to Mother the whole time and
it was like…”  Her voice had gotten softer with each word.



        Makoto *hated* those parades.  After five minutes, she never wanted
to wave at anything again and it was *always* the same route, so she knew
everything she’d see and the one time monsters had attacked had been far
more of relief than it ought to have been.



        Rumble.  “I’m soooo hungry,” Chibi now whined, touching her stomach.



        “Food will be ready soon.  So come tell me about your adventures in
the past; it was so long ago for me that I hardly remember anything,”
Makoto confessed, patting the padded seat by her. The booth had long
curving seating and could hold six.



        “But you were there,” Chibi said, though she sat down.



        “Yes, but I lived it a thousand years ago,” Makoto told her.  “And
you saw things I didn’t.”  And it would let her compare her memories and
make sure Chibi hadn’t had those memories scrambled too.



        Who could have done this and why?  Makoto didn’t know but she *had*
to know.  So they could pay!



***************



        “Oh, that was Ito Kenichi,” Makoto told Chibi, surprised she could
remember his name.  “Minako had the *hugest* crush on him until he
delivered a ten minute speech in class about how girls shouldn’t be
soldiers or police.”  She shook her head.



        “Why would he think something crazy like that?  Was he insane?”
Chibi asked.



        Their food had arrived and they were talking and eating in
turn.  Makoto
fought the urge to wolf it down; Chibi didn’t bother fighting such urges
and was now wolfing down pancakes with syrup and jam.



        “Ami could tell you more about it but it was a culture thing,”
Makoto said, waving her hand vaguely.  She’d managed on a third try to
stumble through her history requirements in college, but it had been very
hard, even with Ami helping.  It only would have taken two tries if not for
those Aztec wannabes, dammit.



        Chibi paused.  “Do you ever miss it?” she asked softly.



        “Miss what?” Makoto asked.  “That kind of stupid attitude?”



        “No, I mean, back when your life was simple and normal,” Chibi said.
“It was so… So different.”  She stared at her knife and fork as if they
held secrets.



        “Not really.  I’ve got all the stuff I most loved about it here
with me.  Well…”  Except her parents.  Makoto stared at her food and sighed.
“Except my folks, but they died before I became a senshi.  Anyway, we
should eat up before it gets cold.”



        There was a lot to hit today.



**************



        Chibi held up the dress to herself in the mirror.   “I can get
this?” she asked hesitantly.  It was not very regal, just a simple blue
dress with green trim.  Admittedly in a year or two it wouldn’t fit her,
but Makoto had more money than she knew what to do with.



        “If you like it,” Makoto told her.  “Luna will complain, but if you
wear fancy clothing *all* the time, they stop feeling fancy and start
feeling more like work clothing.”  She was studying a green dress
herself.  “And
you can use more clothing for trips outside the palace.”



        They spent an hour shopping for clothing and Chibi seemed to
finally be in good spirits, which relieved Makoto.  Being melancholy was
not natural for her.



        “Okay, we have a while before lunch,” Makoto said, looking around
the busy street as they came out; some parts of the city were fully fixed
and bustled with life.  “Rei keeps telling me we need to be more cultural,
so I was thinking of going to the art museum.  There has to be something
worth looking at, right?”



        “Will they let us haul our purchases around?” Chibi asked, studying
her big striped bag full of clothing.



        Makoto slapped her forehead.  A thousand years old and I still
don’t plan ahead well.  “Uh… hmm, don’t want to go all the way back to the
palace…”



        This will mean a lecture, but…



****************



        “Makoto, you need to *plan* these trips,” Mars said to her as one
of her agents took the clothing to take it back to the palace.  “Fortunately
for you, you have a great planner here now.  I am taking command of this
expedition!”



        “Better detransform, then,” Makoto said.  They were getting a lot
of stares; the Senshi were public figures but you didn’t often meet them on
the street.



        Mars froze and Chibi laughed.  “The beginning of her great plan,”
Chibi said.  “I see.”



        Mars grumbled and they slipped off through an alleyway and she
changed in the middle.  “There’s a new children’s exhibit which Chibi
should enjoy and some beautiful Tang dynasty art to elevate *us*.”  Rei
pointed fingers at herself and Chibi.



        “I’m not a kid,” Chibi grumbled and Makoto smiled.  She remembered
going through that phase long ago.



        Rei produced a Pane from her pocket and began tapping on it.  “I’ll
work out a full agenda by the time we reach the museum.”



        Makoto had been afraid this would happen, but hopefully, Chibi
would enjoy Rei’s company too; they usually got on pretty well.



*****************



        Chibi was asleep in a simple chair in Ami’s lab; Rei had kept them
hustling through the museum, lunch at a café, a trip to a water park,
driving virtual race cars and then a desperate run to catch the train so
they didn’t have to wait for the next one.



        “There’s nothing wrong at all, no sign of tampering, nothing,”
Mercury said to them.  “I’m baffled.”  She shook her head, then looked
worriedly at Chibi.  “I think we should consult Pluto.  How did this not
come out before?”



        “Well, she just got back and I think she only really started to
notice things today,” Makoto said hesitantly, then came over and picked up
Chibi.  “Let’s go.”



*******************



        “History has changed,” Pluto told them; they were in the green room
and Chibi was in her bed, napping before dinner.  The green room was full
of plush furniture, plants and pictures of nature on the walls, both
tapestries and paintings.  “I can feel the ripples of time settling down
into the new history.”



        “But I thought we went through all this to *avoid* changing
history,” Jupiter said; she’d turned back, as had Mars and Mercury; Venus
was off with Serenity on official business.



        “We have been through this loop multiple times and now we have
finally gotten it right,” Pluto said; there was tea for everyone and now
she drank some of hers; Jupiter tried her own and it was the black rose tea
she favored.



        “And things… from what she told me, it sounds like everything was…
not very good the way she remembered it,” Jupiter said, frowning.  “Why
didn’t changing history change her memories?”



        “Because of her role in changing things.  Remember the Death
Busters?” Pluto asked.



        “Yeah, Chibi came back a second time to… oh, that hasn’t happened
yet for us, here and now,” Mars said, putting her own tea down.  “But how
is everything changed for us now here if that hasn’t happened yet?”



        “It has, in the past.  I will ensure she goes back at the right
time,” Pluto told her.  “With time, Small Lady will adjust to the new
history; the old memories will become like a bad dream.”



        Jupiter frowned at that.  “I don’t want to mess with her head more.”



        “Just the natural fading of memories that happens to all of us,
right?” Mercury asked Pluto.



        Pluto nodded.  “Small Lady is dear to me.”



        And yet, she gets used to ensure history works, Jupiter thought and
now felt her gut clench.  She’s just a kid.



        This kind of time shenanigans was over her head, but she didn’t
like it.  Chibi should be… as free as a princess can be… to be a kid.



        But what happened, happened and Jupiter didn’t want to mess with
that… *couldn’t* mess with that.



        Well, at least I can ensure she’ll be more ready next time… except
Chibi hadn’t *been* all that ready.  Brave, but not really trained and…



        I hate time travel and fate, Jupiter thought.  She’d been old
enough to choose to accept hers, but Chibi… her whole life was a kind of
gumbo of fate.



        We’re free of fate now, Jupiter thought.  Obvious fate, but Chibi…
would she ever be free?



        It just wasn’t fair.



****************



        Jupiter couldn’t fight fate. But she was determined to do her best
for Chibi-Usa.  She had the least extra duties of any of them, usually
taking turns being Serenity’s personal bodyguard with Venus.



        She felt guilty about that sometimes; her talents weren’t so
suitable for official business, though she had been the chief cook for some
state dinners and proud of her work there.



        But this she could do.  Serenity spent as much time with her
daughter as she could, but she was so busy.



        I can be there for her, Jupiter thought.  In ways the others don’t
have time for.  She’d already been trying to do that anyway, but now it was
even more important.



        She knocked on Chibi’s door.



        “Come in!”



        Chibi was in the chair again and now Princess Burrito was pulling
her brother along in a handcart, racing across a bridge as trolls chased
her.  “She couldn’t outrun them; she needed another idea,” the narrator
said.  “What will she do?”



        “Can she beat them up?” Jupiter asked her.



        “Maybe, but I think I missed an upgrade for my staff,” Chibi-Usa
said and put her Pane aside.  “Thanks for the fun time, Mako-chan.”



        “You’re welcome. We’re gonna do it every week,” Jupiter said to
her, coming and kneeling by the chair to look her in the eyes.  “You
changed history.  That’s why your memories don’t match up.”



        Chibi’s eyes widened.  “But I… Did I fail before?” she asked softly.
“Did Black Lady… Did I…”  She began to shiver.



        “I don’t know.  What’s done is done.  But everything’s going to be
okay.  In a few years, you’ll go back and train with us, when your powers
begin to fully awaken.”  Sort of awaken; Jupiter remembered Pink Sugar
Heart Attack and had to fight the urge to laugh.  But Chibi deserved better.
“You’ll get to see all your friends there.”



        Chibi looked up at her and for a moment, she looked so sad it made
Jupiter’s heart ache.  “I didn’t have any friends until I met Momoko.  And
all of you.  I mean, I knew you but I didn’t know you and time travel is
confusing.  You’re all different now.  A lot more… you were beautiful and
strong and took care of me but you were all so far away, before,” Chibi
said, shaking as the words came out in a rush.



        “I promise I won’t be far away.  We’re your family and we’ll always
be here for you,” Jupiter said, then heard her father saying that to her,
just before the plane flight which killed them.  But she pushed the fears
aside.  She could do it and she would.  She embraced Chibi.  “Let’s go see
your mother.”



        “Doesn’t she have court…” Chibi began, then pawed at her casual
clothing.  “I’m not even dressed for it.”



        “She’ll be glad that she doesn’t have to sit through a boring
meeting,” Jupiter said, now striding out into the hallways.  “She loves you
and she’ll want to hug you too.”



******************



        Venus was waiting at the door. “Give her ten to finish this
meeting; the ambassador will whine too much if he doesn’t get to finish
putting the Queen to sleep.”  She winked at Chibi.  “I hear you forced Mars
to actually do something fun for once.  I salute you.”  She did a literal
salute now as she leaned on the wall.



        “She did kind of take over,” Jupiter mumbled and Venus laughed
loudly, then ruffled Chibi’s hair.



        “I just wish I could have come, but someone had to ensure the Queen
was safe while Makoto was off seducing handsome men with you, Chibi,” Venus
said, grinning widely.



        “We didn’t… I’m too little!,” Chibi said, flailing her arms about,
nearly hitting Jupiter in the face.  “We just went and did fun things and
it was… fun.”  She tugged her hair.  “Sounds so lame.”



        “All work and no play makes Senshi a dullahan, you know,” Venus
pronounced, then winked.



        The door opened and Venus bowed to the four armed ambassador from
Rigel, who bowed back, then assumed… what was that… the greeting stance…
Top two arms held out to the elbow, then up with palms facing them, bottom
two arms folded behind his back.  “This must be the Small Lady of
Serenity,” he said gravely.  “I am Khoon-has, Ambassador from Rigel.  May
the light of Kran-thor shine upon you.”  His green scales glinted in the
light of the long crystal strip which ran down the center of the ceiling,
casting a warm yellow light.



        Chibi stiffened and then she brought her hands up and touched her
forehead, forming a triangle with her thumbs touching and her index fingers
touching each other and her forehead.  “I am the Small Lady of Serenity,”
she said, her voice changing, trying to imitate her mother’s cadences.  “I
open my third eye to receive your greeting.”  Then she moved her hands and
arms, extending her upper arms down her torso and thrusting her hands and
forearms forwards, fingers splayed.  “And return your greetings to you.  May
there…”  She paused, clearly freezing up on the protocol.



        “Be peace between our worlds in the future as in the past,” he said
and now moved into another stance which Jupiter couldn’t remember despite
Mars trying to force them all to learn all *eighty-five* stances.



        Jupiter could remember six, one of them only because it was really
stupid looking and signified wrath.



        “Be peace between our worlds in the future as in the past,” Chibi
said, sounding aggravated.



        “Thank you, child,” he said and now extended a hand and shook
Chibi’s right hand with it.  “Your mother has trained you well.”



        “You are a credit to your clutch,” Chibi said to him.  “They must
be greatly honored by your position.”



        Isn’t that an archaic car part, Jupiter wondered.



        “Indeed they are.  Well, I recognize a child who needs to feed, and
a hungry child needs her mother,” the ambassador began.



        Venus stiffened, not the danger stiffening but the ‘I cannot laugh
and it is going to kill me’ stiffening.  *Her* stances, Jupiter knew well.



        Chibi blinked and looked confused, then straightened up.  “Thank
you, ambassador, I am *starving*.”



        He bowed to her again, then left after another exchange of
formalities.



        Chibi let out a huge sigh.  “Did I mess anything up, Venus?”



        Venus was too busy trying to not fall down laughing to be of any
use.



**************



        “It’s going to be okay,” Serenity said to Chibi, holding her in her
lap.



        “I still can’t believe you used to be that idiot Usagi,” Chibi
mumbled, eyes half-closed.



        Jupiter winced at that, but Serenity just laughed.  But then her
voice turned serious.  “To be a Queen means having to largely say goodbye
to that kind of freedom.  That’s one of the reasons I’m glad you got to see
what we all were like.  We had to give that up to protect everyone, but you
have to see what you’re protecting. Why it’s *worth* protecting.”



        Jupiter turned to go from the meeting room to give them some
privacy but Serenity surprised her by seizing her hand.  So she stayed.



        “We have a lot of power and wealth and our lives are easy in a lot
of ways.  We have to be worthy of that, so we have to give our lives to
others, to fight to protect them and to help them.  Some days, I love being
a queen, but most days it’s a lot of work and I hate work.”



        Jupiter laughed at that and Serenity stuck out her tongue at her,
then said, “Jupiter, can you get us some food?  I want to have dinner with
my daughter.”



        “Of course,” Jupiter said.  She headed out to get some food,
feeling better.  Chibi had a family who loved her.  They’d help her through
this.  And it sounded off like she was better off in this version of
history, anyway.



        Jupiter would make sure of that.



******************



Epilogue:



        Serenity kissed her daughter’s forehead, wishing Endymion was here,
but he’d gone to Africa and wouldn’t be back for a week.  Small Lady was
clutching Luna-P, now in the form of a black bunny doll and Serenity smiled
at that.



        But then she remembered, how things had been.  The first time
around.  The second, the third, all the times it had taken… have we finally
got it right, she wondered.



        She went to the window and looked out at the city.  It took on
different shapes in her mind.  Was it worth it, she wondered.  Did she have
the right?



        But she had to keep trying.  She was not the Serenity she had been,
the first time around.



        Which was for the best.  Having to kill Hotaru… She shuddered at
the memory, the image of Mistress Nine boiling away to nothing, and then…
Then…



        “Mama,” Chibi said, embracing her from behind and startling
her.  “What’s
wrong?”



        She picked Chibi up and held her.  “Bad memories,” she said softly.



        “Like the time you tried to make that Indian dish and we had to air
out the entire house and move into a hotel for two days?” Chibi asked,
grinning a little.



        Serenity winced.  “Yes.” She remembered that in detail.  Stupid
spices.



        “Umm… If you want…” Chibi eyed her bed.



        “A good idea, since Endymion isn’t here,” Serenity told her and
pushed with her will; her clothing became pajamas.



        They were soon in bed, fast asleep.



        Until Serenity rolled over and knocked Chibi on the floor but
that’s a story for another day.
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