One Rabbit Test Andy Combs (Andy the Android) UT Anime Club Video Librarian

Neo Queen Serenity sighed. She was bored. Not that this was all that unusual for her. Despite her age, she had not changed all that much since she had been born almost a thousand years before. Her span of attention was still rather short.

And to make matters worse, this was one of those times when she had to sit at state, listening to the various boring status reports from miscellaneous advisors. Eventually things would get interesting. In a couple of hours they would start to admit the normal citizens of Crystal Tokyo to present their problems to her. That she loved. Not so much that she was good at solving the problems, but simply because it allowed her contact with 'real' people.

She would come down from her throne and talk directly to the people who came. She would not so much listen to their problems as converse about them. And while she rarely solved any, the people always left with the feeling that their Queen really cared about them. She cared when they were hurt or unhappy. And in the end that may have been of more value to the people than if she had had the wisdom of Solomon.

And so, as she did more and more frequently these days, her thoughts turned to personal matters. Namely, her daughter, or rather the lack of one. If her estimates were right the Time of Prophesy was drawing near. It was always officially called the Time of Prophesy because, even though she had seen first hand when she was young what was to come, everyone knew that it was only a possible future. As Pluto would say, the future is not really set firmly until it arrives. (Actually, Pluto would generally be quite a bit more technical about it, but Serenity could never follow much of that.) What she had seen in her youth was a possible future. But not necessarily the real future.

But in spite of this, Serenity somehow *knew* that what she had seen would someday come true. In fact she knew that it was close. Less than 10 years before the Black Moon Family invaded the Earth. How she knew this, she couldn't guess, but know it she did, down to the core of her being. So Serenity didn't so much think of it as a "Time of Prophesy", as simply a comming time of darkness.

She was a little afraid of what would happen to herself throughout the dark events to come, but just as she knew that they would come as she remembered, she also knew just as surely that in the end things would turn out just as she remembered them. In the end, after a long struggle, her younger self, Usagi, would defeat both the Black Moon Family and the evil force behind them. She would win, with a little help from Small Lady. Tsukino Usagi. Chibi-Usa.

She turned the name over and over in her mind. For this was the core of the problem. For Usagi to be successful, she needed the assistance of one little girl. One very special little girl. One non-existent little girl. For Small Lady had not yet been born. And as far as Serenity knew, Small Lady *could not* be born.

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Serenity retired to her quarters late in the evening, exhausted from working with the people. As usual she had stayed way past the posted ending to the audience time. Not that the posted times had ever meant much. Audiences normally lasted until she had worn herself out. As she prepared for bed, she noticed that her husband had already retired for the night. Her husband. King Endymion. The destined one true love of her life... and the source of her current dilemma.

Their's was a relationship that had lasted for a thousand years. Longer, if you counted their previous incarnations. They had been married soon after it was socially acceptable for them to do so, though they had been in love since they first met, although neither would have admitted it at the time. And though there had been rough spots all along, their love had never really diminished, which made the current situation all the more difficult.

She stood, watching her husband sleep, and forced her mind once again to the core of her problem. She didn't like to think directly about it, not just because it was emotionally painful, but also because thinking about the source of the problem brought up the need to try to reason out a solution. And that always gave her a very unpleasant headache.

But she did it once again, because the urgency of the coming dark days was upon her. She knew that the lack of Small Lady in the world would not prevent the Black Moon Family from invading. It would only ensure their ultimate victory over Crystal Tokyo. And so somehow Small Lady must come to exist.In spite of everything.In spite...In spite of....

In spite of the fact that...She forced herself to think the thought.

In spite of the fact that Endymion was sterile.

There. The thought brought back all the painful memories of the whole situation. Memories that stretched back over a thousand years.

At first after they were married, they had avoided the possibility of having children in the usual ways. And for good reason. Sailor Moon was still needed back then, and becoming pregnant would have made that inconvenient, even if Mamoru, Luna, and the rest of them had allowed her to transform. No, knowing them they would have taken the broach from her and sidelined her for the duration. Which would have been no good, since the world needed saving a number of times in those days before the First Darkness. She shied away from thoughts of *those* days. The days that led up to the creation of Crystal Tokyo, and her transformation to her current self as Neo Queen Serenity were best left un-thought about.

Her thoughts skipped forward to shortly after the creation of Crystal Tokyo, and the first time when she and Mamoru, now King Endymion, could relax and think about planning a family. They knew that they had hundreds of years of peace ahead. They knew that Small Lady would come along shortly before the next time of darkness, but there was nothing in that knowledge that precluded the existence of other children in the meantime.

So they set about trying to have kids. For the first half year or so, they had a lovelife that would be the envy of the rabbits that were her namesake, but with no luck. After a year they called in the royal doctor to examine the situation. They had put it off so long because of embarrassment, mainly. To talk about such things in front of anyone but Endymion had made her turn red as a beet, and still brought a flush to her cheeks today.

Mizuno-sensei had examined both of them thoroughly, and reached her conclusions. Serenity was perfectly healthy, and perfectly fertile. Endymion on the other hand...

There was no way to know how it had happened, or even when. Mizuno-sensei's best guess was he had been exposed to something by one of the many monsters who had fought him over the years. It had been quite a shock, and one of the low points of their marriage. After making like rabbits futilely for a year, they suddenly ceased entirely. What was the use? This state lasted for a couple of months, with both of them becoming increasingly miserable, but neither quite willing to make the first move.

Finally their friends got fed up and made the move for them, setting up a two week romantic cruise, and then shanghaiing them both onto it. It worked, and ever since then they had made sure to get away alone for a romantic vacation at least once a year.

The issue of kids was not brought up again for a long time. A very long time. Until quite recently actually, about a year back, when Serenity had suddenly remembered the coming darkness. She had managed to put it all from her mind for a thousand years. But suddenly, with nothing that she could recall to trigger it, she had remembered. Everything.

Chibi-Usa, Luna-P, the Uncanny Sisters, Rubiles, Esmerelda, Wiseman, and particularly Prince Demand.

And with the memories come a knowledge. A certainty. It was coming. Soon.

She had climbed to the highest spire of the castle and looked out. As most cities do, Crystal Tokyo changed with time as people moved in and out and went about their lives.

She took the image she saw there and superimposed the one from her memories of her visit as Usagi. There had been an invasion occurring when Usagi had visited, and some destruction had occurred, but overall the two cities matched very closely. Too closely. The darkness wascoming soon. She had sat down to think things through, and had finally spotted the big gap in the situation. Small Lady did not exist, and likely would never exist. And thus her memories must be of a future that could never exist either. And so she reassured herself.

This reassurance lasted less than a month, as the feeling of coming doom slowly grew. It was a feeling that had no source. No logic. It came from the core of her being. And it eventually drove all intellectualized reassurances from her mind.

So she went to her husband with her concerns. He listened to her, and finally, as she reached the end of her explanation, a light of comprehension went on in his eyes, to be quickly hidden. Serenity never noticed.

When she was done with her explanation, he simply nodded."Well?" she had asked.

"Well, what?""Well, what are we going to do about it. Small Lady, our daughter, must be born soon or the fate of the world will be even blacker."

"Oh, don't worry. It'll work out." he responded.

And that was his response from then on. She figured out that he knew something she didn't, but no matter what she tried, he would give no hint. He meant it to reassure her, she was sure, but it did little of that. And as the days and then months went by with no sign of change in the situation, she became more and more worried whenever she allowed herself to think of the problem.

Being almost a thousand years old she had had plenty of time to thoroughly analyze her own strengths and weaknesses. Though she had gained a fairly good sense of responsibility being a Queen for most of that time, and a Sailor Senshi for much of her life before that, she was still mostly a simple girl at heart. In fact, she herself generally used the same term that others, namely Rei, had used to describe her in her youth. Airhead. That's what she was, and while she wasn't proud of the fact, she had long ago accepted that it was part of who she was.

And being an airhead did have a few advantages, she had long ago realized. While she might be a bit flighty and absent minded in day-to-day life, neither could more serious problems weigh her down for long. She had always been able to push problems aside. To get on with life. Like the way she had pushed aside the problem of Endymion's sterility for nearly a thousand years.

But something was different this time. While she could push this problem aside, it never truly went away. And as the last year had passed, it had become harder and harder to push aside at all.

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As Serenity watched over her husband, the problem was once again foremost in her mind. She looked over it from all the angles with a clarity most unusual for her. The facts that she saw were:

1) The darkness was coming.

2) Small Lady would be the key to their victory.

3) Small Lady was her and Endymion's child.

4) She had to become pregnant. And soon.

5) Endymion was Small Lady's father.

6) Endymion was sterile.

And thus did it all break down.

She pulled the Silver Crystal from the pouch at her side where she kept it these days. Against advice she had recently taken to keeping it with her at all times. She brought it up to eye level.The Silver Crystal. The jewel with the power to destroy the earth or save it.

The jewel with the power of life or death.

The jewel that was the source of immortality for both her and her friends.

The jewel that she had already used twice before in recent days to try to heal Endymion. Secretly of course, while he slept.

The jewel that had already failed just as many times.

She had become quite skilled in it's use over the years. Skilled to the point where she now knew exactly how much power she could pull from it without risking the loss of her own life. The power levels available without that cost were considerable. But they fell short of the power over life and death, and she knew instinctively that that was the level of power that it would take to heal Endymion. And though she would willingly give her life for his, she knew that in this case that would be a futile action, as she had to be alive for the coming darkness as well, not to mention the fact that she had to be there to bring Small Lady into the world.

But in spite of the foreknowledge of her failure, she tried once again. She sent out tendrils of power into Endymion and quickly sought out the necessary place. But once again she was stopped. It wasn't really as if he was injured. Something was simply missing. Gone, long, long ago.

She sighed and put away the Crystal. Looking at the bed she realized that she was not going to be getting much sleep, and decided to take a bit of a walk instead, to clear her head.

She walked out to the royal gardens. This was one of her favorite places to simply be alone. Alone with her thoughts. She chuckled softly. A year ago she never had much in the way of thoughts that she needed to be alone with.

Walking along the path she looked up at the moon, hanging full in the sky. Silver Millennium was up there. Her spiritual home. The place where her soul had been born, as far as she knew. She had visited there a few times, thanks to the power of the Silver Crystal, though it had been hundreds of years since the last visit. She and Endymion had used it for their romantic escapes a couple of times, but the novelty wore off after the first couple of times, and the place had taken on an oppressive air, when one thought about the greatness that had been there, and the loss of that greatness.

Lost in thoughts of long dead kingdoms, she was startled to suddenly realize that she was no longer alone in the garden. She heard a soft giggle coming from somewhere ahead.

Is that a child? What child is up at this hour, let alone running through the royal gardens? She walked forward, a stern expression on her face. It was in her mind to find out who this child was and who it's parents were and...

Now, Serenity rarely got angry. The times she had been truly angry could be counted out on both hands. But she had been under a lot of stress recently, and was uncharacteristically short tempered. Rounding a curve in the path, she stopped short, her breath catching in her chest. The last sight she had every imagined befell her eyes.

"Small Lady?"

The child looked up. She looked exactly like Serenity remembered her looking. Which made no sense, since she had last seen her a thousand years ago. And she had expected to next see her as a newborn baby, if at all.

If there had been any doubt, the presence of Luna-P hovering right behind the child erased them.

Chibi-Usa looked up from where she was examining a small flowered bush.

"Oh. There you are. What took you so long?"

"What? How?" Serenity was flabbergasted.

"Oh, well. Bye-bye!" And with that, Chibi-Usa took off running."Hey! Wait!"

Serenity charged after her, not caring that she was in relatively fine clothing, and that she was horribly wrecking that clothing as she crashed through the garden after the child.

Suddenly the child ducked down and darted into a hole in a hedge. Without a moment's hesitation, Serenity plunged after, on hands and knees, her clothes now a total loss.

After following the crawlpath for a bit, she realized that she had come much farther than that hedge had any right to continue. She knew that garden, having had so long to explore it, and had no memory of this path. Not having any real choice, she continued forward. Without warning, she suddenly felt the ground in front of her give way, and she tumbled forward into the blackness.

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Two shadowy figures step from behind a tree in the garden to look at the now closing hole in the hedge."Well. That's done."

"Does it have to be this way?"

"Yes. I'm afraid it does."

The speaker now steps into the light, and we see a strange sight. The figure has no shadow. In fact the moonlight seems to pass right through the figure. It is wielding a huge key that is fully as tall as it is.

"It'll be hard on her, but she'll come through. She always does." says Sailor Pluto.

The other figure now also enters the light. This woman is fully as tall as Pluto, but instead of Pluto's dark green hair, this one has pink hair, tied in odango and two ponytails that reach her knees.

"I know. But I just wish we could warn her." says Princess Usagi, at times in the past known as Small Lady, Chibi-Usa, or Black Lady. "Good luck in Wonderland, Alice no Mama."

Pluto just stares at the now solid hedge.

Serenity seemed to tumble forever through blackness. The intensity of the blackness seemed unaffected by whether she had her eyes open or closed, so she just shut them tight. She tried to access the Silver Crystal with her mind, to try to do something to put a stop to this, but was unable to focus her concentration well enough.

Finally, just as she was beginning to think that there might be no end to it, she found herself on solid ground once more. She was still on hands and knees, as she had been in the hedge. There was no impact, she just suddenly felt the ground beneath her once again.

Afraid of what she might see, she hesitated to open her eyes. She could tell through her eyelids that wherever she was, it was still dark. So she just remained where she was for a few moments, recovering from the experience.She noticed then that the ground under her was not the dirt of the garden, but rather it was wood. It felt like some sort of planking.

She heard a soft splash from nearby. Water. Close.

Finally, having calmed her nerves a bit, she open her eyes and looked around. She was in the open. The same full moon shown down at her. That relieved some fears. She was still on the same planet. After all she had been through in her life, traveling to another planet would have been a surprise, but by no means impossible.

She heard the soft splash again, and glanced to where it came from. Water. Open water as far as she could tell from the reflected moonlight. She was on the edge of some lake or river, as close as she could tell. Which would make the planking beneath her...

She knocked on it lightly. Yep. Some sort of pier or dock.

She looked around trying to take in as many details as the moonlight provided. She could have easily generated light with the Silver Crystal, but that was not a good idea, when she had no idea who or what might be out there. To be on the safe side, though, she slipped the Silver Crystal from it's pouch and, focusing her attention on it, caused it to morph itself into a small bracelet, which she placed on her wrist. This let her remain in contact with it, while eliminating any possibility of her dropping it. It's power would be reduced in this form that was not of it's choosing, but she knew from experience that it would only take a moment for it to revert to it's true form if that much power was needed. And so she entered into a light rapport with it, ready to call up it's still immense powers should any danger threaten. And the rapport turned out to do as good a job as making a spotlight out of the Silver Crystal would have done, for she found her eyesight greatly enhanced, so that she could see almost as well as if it had been full daylight. She chided herself for forgetting about that, internally hearing Rei-chan's voice call her an airhead.

She looked around once more, now able to see. She was indeed on a dock, a small one that jutted out over a small lake. There were several rowboats tied up on the dock. She could see a path leading off from where the dock touched the shore, but couldn't tell much more, and the lake seemed to be surrounded by trees close to the water's edge.

Something about this place was creating a sense of deja-vu. She could tell she had been here before, but she could not remember anywhere quite like it.

The rapport would make other, new senses available, and she accessed some of these now. With one of these she explored outward, and recoiled almost at once. From what she could see she expected to find herself in a deserted area, with few or no people nearby. Exactly the opposite was true. Almost immediately beyond the lines of trees were people. People. Immense numbers of people. She was in no deserted local, but instead she was in the center of some vast metropolis, with a sea of people as far as she could feel.

She tried another of the senses available to her in this state, feeling out for sources of magic. And this time she was in for another shock. In Crystal Tokyo, where the whole city was magical, a probe like this would have brought results similar to the life probe she had done moments before. But again she got the exact opposite of what she expected. There was no magic to speak of that she could sense. No wait. There was magic, it was there, all around her, but the levels were such that she could barely feel it. And probing out farther, she could sense a few concentrations of power. A small number of beings or places where the magical energy of this place collected enough to make it's presence felt. Again she was struck by deja-vu, but this sense was limited, and she could discern no more details that might help clear up the mystery.

It was at about this point that she realized that there was something missing. Something that she had grown accustomed to being there. It took her a few moments of analysis to figure out what it was. It was the feeling of impending doom that had been upon her for the last year. It was gone, with not a trace remaining. So accustomed to it's presence had she grown that she almost missed it in it's absence. Almost. But just as she had never been able to figure out a source for the feeling, so also there was no clue to it's leaving. It was just gone.

Serenity then noticed her own state, which was decidedly disheveled. She took a step to the edge of the dock and looked down at the water, examining her reflection. Not good. Not good at all. She concentrated on the Silver Crystal, and her clothes shimmered slightly, then shifted and left her standing there in the familiar princess dress that was one of her favorites. She frowned. No, she was in an unknown land in an unknown situation, and this was definitely not an appropriate outfit. She changed her clothes again, selecting an outfit from her youth, a simple blouse and skirt. She looked herself over, nodding. She frowned momentarily, as she wondered why she had chosen this, out of a thousand years worth of clothes, then gave an "Oh, well" shrug and dismissed it as unimportant.

Next she turned her attention to herself, easily healing the minor cuts and scrapes she had gained during the chase. She then restored her odango and pony tails to their normal state as well. Finally, presentable, but hopefully anonymous, she started forward, intent on finding out where she had landed.

The path through the trees was well maintained, with several benches lining it, suggesting a park of some sort, which must be what this was. Finally she came through the trees and got her first glimpse of the city in which she now was. She stopped short as she looked out over the city, and she received the next in the series of shocks that this night was to bring. She knew this place. Knew it to the core of her being.

This time it wasn't just deja-vu. She really *had* been here before.

Before her, lit up in a cacophony of lights, spread a city that had every right to be familiar to her. She was born here. She grew up here. With Tokyo Tower brightly lit against the sky, the city of Tokyo spread before her. Tokyo. Not Crystal Tokyo, but Tokyo. A city that hadn't existed for almost a thousand years.

The question she needed answered was no longer "Where am I?". That had been answered. But a new question arose from somewhere within her. "*When* am I?".Serenity dropped to her knees and stared out over the city.

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The next evening found her standing in a small alley, staring out across the street at the Tsukino house. One hand held tightly to a small metal railing, as if that grip was the only thing that kept her from being swept away in some raging current only she could see.

She had spent the day orienting herself to where (or rather, when) she was. It was late 1995, with Christmas having passed just a few days previously. She had wondered for awhile who her younger self might be fighting at the time. It seemed that she had always been fighting one menace or another in those days, but after a thousand years, exactly when she had fought any particular enemy, or even the order in which they were fought, had been lost in the fog of memory.

She had wondered, until one point in the afternoon she had gone into rapport with the Silver Crystal to check on something, and suddenly she noticed a huge circus tent hanging over much of the city's downtown section. Strange that she hadn't noticed it before. Then she remembered. The Dead Moon Circus. Very well. That answered that question.

In fact, it was just a short time later that she had almost gotten caught up in a fight between the Sailor Senshi and one of the Dead Moon Circus' Lemires. It had been some sort of weird combination balloon-animal clown and dog trainer, that had created an army of balloon dogs and sent them after the senshi. She had been momentarily tempted to interfere, but quickly realized she wasn't needed. Sailor Mars easily popped the balloons with her fire arrows. Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus tried to go after the leader of the Lemires, one of those weird over-sexed little girls of the Dead Moon Circus, but the girl easily escaped. Meanwhile Sailor Chibi Moon had already summoned up the Pegasus, and as soon as the Pegasus had materialized Sailor Moon's kaleidoscope wand, Sailor Moon had fired off a blast at the Lemires, diffracting it back into the shadows from which it was created.

The Sailor Senshi had quickly vanished as soon as the fight was over, preferring not to hang around and gather a crowd, and Serenity had followed. She wasn't sure why she had followed them, except that they were something familiar.

And so she had found herself outside the Tsukino residence. She had watched only a few moments, when she realized who else would be in there, besides her younger self. Her mother. Her father. Even her brother, with whom she had fought constantly. They were all there. Alive. Just a few feet from her. It took most of her will to resist the urge to go running into that house. Finally she had grasped a railing at her side, and willed her hand with all her might to not let go. As much as she wanted to, she *could* *not* go in there. Her parents did not know. About Sailor Moon... About the coming future...

And the sudden appearance of an adult version of their daughter would force the explaining of all that.

Besides, she knew that it hadn't happened. In fact, she had no memory at all of a visit from her older self, a fact which indicated that she should do anything possible to avoid running into herself.

So she stood there, her knowledge that she mustn't go warring with her heart's desire to do so.

Unfortunately for Serenity, her Heart had always been far stronger than her Brain, so the end of the battle was in no real doubt, even from the start. She released her hand, and prepared to march into the house, no matter the consequences.

"U-SA-GI!!" came a voice from right behind her. "What in the *world* are you doing out here at this time of night?"

Serenity rose nearly five feet in the air from the shock. She started to scream, but at the last moment remembered where she was, and clamped her hands down on her mouth to hold it in. Unfortunately, that left her with no hands to catch herself with as she came back down again, and she landed ungracefully, and painfully, on her behind.

"Ow, ow" she said, rubbing her injured rear.

"Serves you right, Usagi, sneaking out at night like this. What *are* you up to?" said Luna, taking on her "worried mother" expression.

"Luna? How did you get here? Did you fall through some sort of hole too? And why are you calling me Usagi again? You haven't called me that in hundreds..." Serenity ground to a halt as the realization hit her that this wasn't her Luna.

Luna now sounded worried. "Usagi, are you all right? You're spouting nonsense. Did you bump your head when you fell?"

Luna jumped up on Serenity's lap, looking for head injuries. It was at this point that Luna finally got a good look at Serenity's face. Even if everything else about her face had been the same as Usagi's was, which wasn't the case, there was still the bright yellow moon crescent in the middle of Serenity's forehead to serve as a beacon for the other differences. Luna just stared in shock.

Serenity just sorta stared back, a nervous attempt at a smile on her face.

"You're not Usagi."

"Um, yes and no. Uh... long time no see, Luna." She forced a chuckle, which quickly died. Serenity then breathed deeply and let out a long sigh.

"Serenity" Luna said, barely above a whisper. Serenity nodded.

Luna quickly scrambled down off of Serenity, and did the cat equivalent to a bow.

Serenity giggled. "Now stop that, Luna. You know I don't want such formalities from you... Well, I guess you don't know, at that."

"Neo Queen Serenity-sama. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"*Stop* that, Luna. I may be a little older, but I'm still Tsukino Usagi where it counts, and there's no way I can put up with one of my oldest friends being so formal."

"Very well, but what in the world are you doing here?"

"That would take a little bit of explaining, I'm afraid."

"Well. Why don't you come with me now. I'll set up a meeting with everyone, that way you don't have to repeat yourself."

A look of panic crossed Serenity's face. "No."

"But everyone will want to see you.""No. I can't"

"It won't take long. Just an hour or so."

"That's not the problem."

"Then what is? Why *can't* you come and visit..."

Serenity interrupted. "Luna, you don't understand. I'm not supposed to be here. I just can't let anyone else see me. *You* shouldn't have seen me."

"But why not?"

"Because I can't. None of this happened. I mean the first time through. I know Small Lady will come here, because I remember her from the first time. So she's supposed to be here. She may not belong here, but she's supposed to be here anyway. But not me! Serenity never visited the first time through. So by my very presence I'm changing history, maybe by simply talking to you I've already changed things too much. I may not have understood much of Setsuna-san's lectures on time travel and such but one thing she did manage to drill into me was the knowledge that randomly, or even purposefully changing the past was very dangerous." Serenity faltered, on the verge of tears.

Luna pondered. "Maybe you did visit... are visiting... where and when you are supposed to do so."

"But I don't remember Serenity ever visiting!"

"Who said that you had to know about something for it to happen?"

"What?"

"I mean that it's obvious that Usagi never saw you, and shouldn't see you, but just because the Luna from your time never told you of the visit, doesn't mean it didn't happen."

Serenity thought about that for a bit, relaxing a bit as Luna's words sunk in. They made sense.

"Though you are right then that we should probably keep the list of people who know of your visit as short as possible. I can keep this from Usagi easily, and Ami-chan would have no problem. Mako-chan and even Rei-chan as well, most likely. But would you really want to trust such a thing to Minako or Chibi-Usa? Oh, excuse me for speaking ill of your daughter."

"No, that's quite all right. I remember quite well what a pain she could be." Serenity and Luna both laughed at that.

"Speaking of Chibi-Usa, how are you and Mamoru... excuse me, King Endymion, handling being without her?" Serenity gave Luna a startled look, which went unnoticed in the darkness. "I mean, she's been with us now for quite a while. I bet you must miss her horribly."

Comprehension dawned in Serenity's eyes. "I'm sorry, Luna, but I'm not from the same point of time that Small Lady has come to you from." A tear had started to form in the corner of her eye.

"Oh? Well I just assumed... Oh, well. I guess that means that she's back to you already. How is she do...." Luna trailed off as she noticed that Serenity was on the verge of tears.

Serenity grabbed Luna and hugged her tightly. "Oh, Luna! I don't know what to do!" Serenity began to sob. Not Usagi-crybaby sobbing that Luna was familiar with, but a quiet, whole body sob the likes of which Luna had never seen from Usagi/Serenity.

Luna managed to squirm a bit in the hug, so that she could put her face right in from of Serenity's. "What's wrong? Did something happen to Chibi-Usa?" Serenity just shook her head, the sobs finally subsiding.

"But this *is* about Chibi-Usa, though, correct?" Serenity nodded, wiping her face on one of her sleeves.

"If nothing has happened to her, then what's wrong?"

"Luna. You were speculating about what time I'm from. I'm not from after Small Lady returns to my time. I'm from before that."

"Before?"

"Before she comes here the first time. Before the Black Moon Family begins their invasion. Before.... before Small Lady is even born. Luna! The Black Moon Family is coming, and there's no Small Lady to stop them! And at the rate things are going, there never will be!"

"I think you had better tell me the whole story. From the beginning."

"But that much knowledge of the future..."

"I already know a good part of it, and if there's anything major new in what you tell me, well, I've already said I'm good at keeping secrets."

Serenity thought for a moment, and began to tell her story.

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Princess Usagi watched from her perch in a nearby tree as the encounter between Serenity and Luna unfolded. She kept a careful eye on the surrounding neighborhood. It was her job to be the guard. To make sure that no one and nothing interfered with the meeting taking place. She would have liked to think that her appointment as the on the spot technician for this operation was an indication of the level of trust that Pluto placed in her, but that was not the case. Not that Pluto didn't trust her, but she knew full well why she was the one here. She had the most at stake. If someone else screwed up, and things changed, their life might change a bit, but they would most likely still be there. Not Princess Usagi, though. Her existence was on the line here. For her, the price of failure would be worse than death... she would never have existed in the first place. And Princess Usagi enjoyed life way too much to let that happen. As so she sat guard. Watching for an interruption that never came.

It never came, but she was there in case it had.

--------------------------------------------

Serenity finished her story, complete with a rendition of the events that had brought her to this time.

"Hmm." said Luna. "I sense a meddling hand in this, though."

"What?"

"Let's just say that I'm pretty sure now that your being here is no accident, and that I'm now positive that you are supposed to be here in this time and place just as much as Chibi-Usa is."

"I don't follow you."

"To put it simply, there's a reason why you are here, now. And I believe I know the reason. You're here to solve your problem."

"Solve my problem? How? Endymion is sterile."

"Endymion may be sterile, but I'm willing to bet the Chiba Mamoru is not."

"What?!?"

"Serenity, your purpose here is clear. You have to seduce Mamoru, and become pregnant with Chibi-Usa!" Serenity promptly fainted.

Serenity stared at the mirror, nervously appraising herself. She was dressed in a white, blue, and red negligee that was faintly reminiscent of her old Sailor Senshi costume. She wondered if this was a good way to excite Mamoru. That made her wonder what effect her original costume had had on him. And *that* thought left her blushing furiously.

She was very uncertain of how to proceed. She had never really seduced anyone before. Not even her husband. Not that hers was an unromantic marriage, but the romance had always been initiated by Endymion, not really by her. Endymion was a thorough romantic at heart. Serenity knew she was a klutz at heart. The few times she had tried to set up romantic encounters with Endymion had been total disasters.

And here she was, the fate of the world of a thousand years from now hung on her seduction ability. Her knees grew weak, and she felt faint once more at the weight of it all. She quickly pushed it from her mind.

Thinking about things like that just made it harder to do what had to be done. Serenity sighed. "Had to be done." Was that really the way she thought of it? She brought an image of Endymion to her mind. Endymion of her time, not this time. This is her destined love. The man who had been her husband for a millennium. The man to whom she had made love countless times. Never before had she considered the act as anything less than the consummation of her love for this man. A physical celebration of the linking of their souls. What was so different this time? Why was it so difficult? This was still the man she loved, wasn't it?

And there was the answer. This wasn't the same man she now loved. Usagi had loved Mamoru. Serenity loved Endymion. Her love for him was wrapped up in a thousand years worth of memories. Memories of events, places, people. Memories that Mamoru did not share. Just as Serenity was no longer Usagi, Endymion was no longer Mamoru. Mamoru would one day become Endymion. But not now. The man she loved was a thousand years away. And Serenity could feel the gulf of every single one of those years. She felt alone. Serenity sat down on the couch, a sob rising from deep in her throat. A scratching sound came from the hotel room window. Serenity quickly mopped the tears, shifted her clothes to a more normal outfit, and went to let Luna in.Luna hopped in from the window sill.

"Well, did you check?" Luna asked.

Serenity nodded. Luna had suggested that Serenity use the Silver Crystal to scan herself and determine when she would be at the peak of her fertility. Serenity had done so. She was just entering the peak of her fertility cycle, and would be able to conceive for 2 or three more days. She told Luna.

Luna nodded, and was about to reply, when from the window where Luna had just entered came a quick cry, followed by a crash. Serenity hurried to the window. Just outside could be seen Chibi-Usa, sprawled out on the ground, painfully rubbing a bruise on her rear from where she had landed.

"Small Lady." Serenity said, shocked.

"Mama. It *is* you!" Chibi-Usa launched herself through the window, into Serenity's arms. "Mama!" Chibi-Usa cried in joy, hugging Serenity tight.

"It's okay, Small Lady. It's really me."

Chibi-Usa broke the hug. "I saw Luna sneaking out, and decided to follow. I saw her go into this room, so I tried to take a peek. I was so surprised to see you, I guess I fell." Luna chuckled.

"But why are you here, mama?" Chibi-Usa's eyes grew wide. "You're here to take me home, arn't you?"

Serenity had to chuckle inside. In a way Chibi-Usa was exactly right, Serenity was here to take Chibi-Usa back with her, but not at all in the way Chibi-Usa thought. "No, you can stay here for a while longer. You still have things to do here." Serenity reassured the child.

Chibi-Usa looked greatly relieved, and hugged Serenity once more. Serenity hugged her daughter back, absorbing the feel of her presence. And suddenly everything became crystal clear for her. All her doubts vanished. She had been searching for reasons for what she knew was to come. And suddenly she found the answer here in her arms. Here was the reason for all of this. Here was the goal that she was working towards. Until now Serenity had been focusing on ancient memories, and knowledge of the importance of Small Lady to the fate of the future world. But memories and knowledge were small when compared to the feel, the emotion of holding Small Lady in her arms. *This* was the reason she was here. Not to create a person that existed in her memories. Not to create a savior of the world. She was here for the sake of Small Lady. This little person who's existence she controlled. The future could take care of itself, she was here for the sake of one little girl. Her daughter.

Serenity finally broke off the embrace. "Small Lady, I'm afraid that you must go home now. I mean home to the Tsukino house. Luna will take you home." Serenity knelt to Chibi-Usa. "Small Lady, you must tell no one of seeing me. Noone must know I was here. Promise?"

"I promise,... mama." Chibi-Usa and Luna slipped back out the window, leaving Serenity alone. Except that she knew that she wasn't really alone at all.

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Princess Usagi watched from a distance, remembering the scene from her own point of view. It had been a long time before she had discovered the reason her mother had been there that night. But that didn't matter. She had done as she had said she would. Her time with the Pegasus had made her very good at keeping secrets. "I kept my promise, mama." she said softly. A small tear rolled down her cheek.

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The next evening found Serenity in Mamoru's apartment, waiting for his return. It had been a simple matter to watch for his leaving, and then to slip in to wait.

The waiting itself was anything but simple. Her meeting with Small Lady had erased her doubts about what had to be done. It had done nothing to ease her other doubts. Her doubts in her own ability to actually do this were as strong as ever. What did she know about seducing a man?

For a thousand years she had had eyes for one man only, and had never needed to seduce him. She had simply had to be herself, and he had loved her for it. But that didn't matter here. She wasn't the woman he loved. How would he react to her?

How would Usagi react if she found out for that matter? Serenity had to chuckle in spite of everything when she realized she knew exactly how Usagi would react. She would faint, because if everything went as it should, Usagi wouldn't/didn't find out until Serenity herself had the previous evening.Serenity turned her thoughts back to how to approach Mamoru.

"Hi! I'm your future wife, here to make passionate love to you and create our daughter, who happens to be running around learning to be a Sailor Senshi from you." Serenity shook her head in frustration. Try as she might, everything she came up with either sounded stupid or corny when she spoke them outloud. Serenity finally sat down on the couch and rested her head in her hands, continuing to ponder the problem from this more comfortable position.

--------------------------------------------

And so, by the time Mamoru finally did return, Serenity had managed to fall asleep there on the couch. Mamoru entered, after a long day at college, topped off with another fight against the weird circus group that was creating so much trouble these days. He hung up his coat and entered the darkened living room. Just as his hand reached for the light switch, he noticed something out of place. Namely an odango topped head, peeking slightly up above the back of the couch. Usako? What was she doing here? He pulled his hand back from the light switch when he realized that the visitor was asleep. No need to wake her unnecessarily. But how had she gotten here. Mamoru had left Usagi with the rest of the gang after the fight had ended and he had driven straight back here. Besides, the gang had an evening of shopping in Shinjuku planned. He would have considered her presence impossible, but he had long ago realized that, around Usagi, the impossible occurred on a regular basis.

So had Usagi abandoned her shopping trip, somehow managed to teleport back here, and then fallen asleep on his couch? Not likely, even for Usagi. Mamoru quietly moved around the couch to get a better view. What he could see added to the mystery. The figure not only had Usagi's odango, but her ponytails as well. The only other person he knew who wore her hair in odango and ponytails was half the size of this person. But even in the dark he could tell that her clothes were totally different than the outfit he had last seen Usagi in. So if it was Usagi, she had found time to go home and change, on top of everything else. No, he decided. In spite of the resemblance, this just couldn't be Usagi. Which brought up the issue of what did he do about her. He had a strange woman, who looked remarkably like his girlfriend, asleep on his couch.Had it been Usagi, asleep in his apartment for unknown reason, he probably would have pulled out a blanket, covered her, then retired for the night himself, leaving any explanations until the morning. But this woman was a total unknown, and the idea of going to sleep with her in the apartment was unthinkable. So he had to awaken her and find out what was going on.

That decided, Mamoru knelt down in front of Serenity and gently shook her shoulders...

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Serenity's sleep had been blissfully dreamless. After the last year of nightmares brought on by the ever present sense of onrushing doom, her sleep here in the past had been wonderful. She awoke as Mamoru gently shook her shoulders. For a moment she mistook the person at her side for her husband, but then the memories of recent events flooded back, and she realized who this must be. Mamoru.

He was here already. All her plans of being waiting for him, clad in the negligee, vanished in a panic.

BAKA! she told herself. How could you fall asleep at a time like this?

Mamoru saw that she was awake now, and released her. He walked over to the wall and casually flipped the lightswitch. His back was to Serenity.

"Now, would you please tell me who you are, and what you are doing in my apartment?" he spun on his heels at his last words. And stared at the woman. She had Usagi's features. But there was a look of age that could be seen, in the eyes especially. Those were not the eyes of a fifteen year old. But the most dramatic feature was the bright moon crescent the sat in the middle of her forehead.

"Serenity" he managed to croak out. Serenity nodded gravely.

She quickly tried to bring one of her prepared speeches to mind, but none were all that well prepared, and none came to mind, leaving her silent.

Mamoru recovered before she managed to cobble anything together to say.

"Neo Queen Serenity." He said slowly. "Well, that answers part of my question, but the rest remains. What are you doing here?"

Serenity opened her mouth to speak, but again couldn't say anything. Tell him you're here for him! Tell him you need him! But try as she might, she couldn't force anything out. Say something, baka, or you'll ruin everything."I'm...""I'm..."

With a cry of frustration, Serenity threw herself down on the couch. No! This can't be happening when I'm this close! Serenity began to cry.

Mamoru watched as Serenity collapsed. And he realized that however many years might separate them, that was still his Usako there in front of him, in obvious anguish over something. And Mamoru knew that he could not just stand by while she was in pain like this. He had done it once before, when dreams of the future forced him to push her away, and he had sworn to himself that he would never again ignore her pain. So he quickly found himself at her side, gathering in her weeping form.

Lending her his strength, both physically and emotionally. Serenity suddenly found herself in a familiar embrace. So many times before, when some crisis of life had overwhelmed her, Mamoru/Endymion had always been there for her. He would draw her in, just like this, enveloping her with his strength. And so, without even thinking, Serenity responded in the way she had responded so many times before to his comforting embrace. She shifted in the embrace, and quickly brought her lips to his, kissing him deeply.

It took a few moments for Mamoru to realize that the situation had changed. It was not that he was unobservant of the fact that Serenity was kissing him, it's just that the significance of the fact escaped him briefly. After all, it's not as if the kiss was unfamiliar, as he had kissed Usagi many times before this. But it was the passion of the kiss that finally made him remember that this wasn't his Usagi. Or at least, not quite her. He started to pull away.

Serenity responded by renewing the embrace, this time with her head on his shoulder. "No" she whispered, "Don't go."

"Serenity. This isn't right."

"No. You're wrong. This is perfectly right." she continued to hold him in the embrace, speaking softly in his ear. "Mamoru. You know Small Lady. You know you are her father, or rather that you will be her father someday. Well, I'm afraid that that day has arrived. I'm here to conceive Small Lady."

Mamoru stiffened. "But that would mean... You and I..."

Serenity nodded."But... But what about my future self? Shouldn't he..."

"No. Sometime in your future, between now and when you and Usagi get around to trying to start a family, something will happen to you to.... sterilize you." the last was barely above a whisper. "So the only way is to visit you before that time."

Mamoru tried to pull away once more. "I need to think about this..."

"NO!" Serenity held onto Mamoru tightly. "Please. Don't let go."

She continued, softly again "If we let go, I've lost." Serenity was starting to cry softly once more.

Mamoru knew that *he* was the one who had lost when he saw the tears. He knew then that he would never be able to resist her tears. The only consolation to that fact was that he was sure that Usagi would never, could never use this weakness against him. She would never deliberately manipulate him with her tears. It just wasn't in her nature to do such a thing. And maybe that was a large part of their power over him. The fact that he knew that tears such as these came straight from her heart. So. He was lost. Very well. What did that mean?

Well, if her intentions were to be believed, it meant that the two of them would make love before the night was through. He had no reason to doubt her. It also meant that he was about to become a father. A lot sooner than he had planned. But if Serenity was correct, his fatherhood had to come sooner, rather than later. So it would be tonight that Chibi-Usa would be conceived. He gave a start at that. It had been one thing to know that someday he would father Chibi-Usa. It was quite another to be right on the verge of the very act.

Mamoru realized that they had both been silent now for quite some time.

"Serenity." Mamoru said, softly.

"Yes?"

"I... " he hesitated. "I accept the need for what you ask for." He broke off the embrace. This time she let him go. "But I think I need a little while to fully come to grips with all the ramifications." He stood, then helped Serenity to her feet. He pointed towards the bedroom. "If you would wait in there, I'll be along. I'm... not sure how long I'll be, though." Serenity nodded and left the room.

Mamoru sank back down to the couch, wrestling with the conflicting notions of impending fatherhood, and the realization that that fatherhood would not actually come for a thousand years. The conflict disappeared when he realized that in many ways he was a father already. He had talked with the product of the coming activities less than an hour earlier. Chibi-Usa. A bit of a brat at times, but with such a strong, heroic character, he couldn't help but be proud. So he had no need to worry. He looked at his bedroom door. Beyond was the woman he loved. A thousand years had left their mark, to be sure, but Serenity at the core was still the simple Usagi that he loved. Hmm. He could go about what was to come in a number of ways. He could be clinical, simply do the act and be done with it. He could go in with thoughts of duty and future and such, a silent martyr to the situation. Or he could do it right. He nodded. He would make sure that this was a night the two of them never forgot.

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Serenity sat on the edge of the bed, waiting impatiently. Serenity had never been good at waiting. She nervously morphed her clothes, shifting from the casual outfit she had been wearing, to the negligee she had come up with earlier, and back. Every time she shifted to the negligee, she would quickly shift back in embarrassment. Baka. She would be making love to him soon. Why be embarrassed by wearing something, when she would be wearing nothing soon enough. Thinking about wearing nothing while linked with the Silver Crystal to play with her clothes was dangerous, as she found herself truly naked moments after the thought had entered her mind. Serenity blushed brightly as she restored her casual outfit.

She sighed. No. She just couldn't do it. She would have to present herself to him like this. She stared at the door. Soon he would come through it. He would come and have his way with her. Ravish her fully... Baka! This was Mamoru she was thinking about. The man who would be/had been her husband for a millennium. She knew him better than to think about him that way. Besides, who was she to complain, even if he did ravish her? Who was the one who had come here and practically told him to make love to her? Who was she to question how he went about it? BAKA! That wasn't going to happen, so why worry likethat?

She realized that all this was just skirting the real issue. She was having second thoughts about the whole situation. Somehow she had succeeded in getting him to agree to make love, though she didn't quite know how she had done it. So she immediately had returned to her questions of whether she should be here in the first place. She sighed. She had thought she had put them behind her. A glance around the room helped greatly, as her eyes fell on a photo of Chibi-Usa on Mamoru's nightstand. There was all the reassurance she needed, for the moment at least. She silently wished for Mamoru to hurry, as she knew that the longer she had to think, the more that the doubts would return, and the harder they would be to banish.

It wasn't much longer, though. Fairly soon, Mamoru stepped into the room. The sight of him made her catch her breath, for he was robed in the armor of Prince Endymion. And he carried a large bouquet of roses. He crossed the room and knelt before her, presenting the roses to her. "My lady, would you give me the pleasure of your company on this, a most wondrous of nights?"

Any remaining doubts vanished. Serenity rose to her feet, her clothes again shifting as she did. She was now dressed in the elegant white gown of Silver Millennium, complementing Mamoru's outfit. "I would be honored." A smile spreading across her face.

As if on cue, Mamoru's stereo system kicked in, beginning a slow waltz. Mamoru set the roses aside and swept Serenity into his arms, and they began to dance the same dance that they had in their past lives, ages ago.

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Princess Usagi had watched the whole evening from the balcony outside. The waltz went on for a long time, and the couple inside danced away every moment. The music finally died away, and the lights in the apartment followed soon after. Princess Usagi nodded. Her job was done, and her parents deserved some true privacy for what was to come. She stepped off the balcony, and gently floated down to the ground, humming contentedly.

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Mamoru woke slowly, the events of the past evening had danced in his dreams all night. He wondered for a moment if it had all been just a dream, until he felt the warm body at his side. He rolled over to look at the still sleeping form of Serenity, cuddled up nude against him. He smiled at the thoughts of the evening they had just spent. His movement was enough to wake her, and she opened her eyes and looked up into his face.

"Good morning, Usako."

"Good morning,... Mamo-chan."

"That was... magical."

"It always is, but you'll find that out soon enough." It was Mamoru's turn to blush.

Serenity laughed, a light, musical laugh. She sat up in the bed and stretched, still in the process of waking. She seemed totally unconcerned at her continued nudity. Mamoru blushed even more at the sight, and turned away.

Serenity's laughter stopped abruptly. "No, my love." she reached out and gently grabbed his chin, turning his head back towards her. "Never feel you must look away from me. No matter how much time stands between us, we are two halves of a much greater whole. No, all that I am, is a part of you, now. Never feel ashamed or embarrassed at the sight of me, and I will never again feel the need to hide from you."

Mamoru nodded, then caught an unspoken implication of her words. "You mean you, not Usagi."

Serenity nodded. "We both know what is coming in my near future. Demand and the Black Moon Family. Those will be dark days, but we have just created the beacon of hope that there will be a future beyond them." She placed a hand on her abdomen, as if she could already feel the new life growing there-in. And with all her power, Mamoru wasn't sure that she couldn't.

Serenity continued. "But, if events turn out for me as we both remember them turning out the last time, then there will be a future beyond. A future for which, for the first time in a long time, I have no knowledge. I think I'll enjoy living without knowledge of the future. Mamoru, I may not have any knowledge of that future, but I do know at least a part of what I would like it to be." She paused, as if trying to figure out how to word a difficult subject. She shook her head in slight frustration. "I guess there's no easy way to ask this, other than to simply do so. Mamoru, when the coming dark days are past, I would like to expand our family. I would like to have more children, to give Small Lady some brothers and sisters."

"But that would mean... you would have to..."

Serenity nodded. "I would have to return to you in this time. We don't know when Endymion... you... became sterile, but we know that you are not so yet. I'm not sure how long it'll be until I visit again, from my point of view, but I think that any future visits should be in the very near future as far as you are concerned."

Mamoru thought about it. He had come to accept the idea of Chibi-Usa as his daughter, but more children? And the hardest part was the idea that he would have to wait for a thousand years to see those children. But if Chibi-Usa was a good sample of how their children would be, then he wanted to see those other children brought to life. A thousand years was a long time, but he could wait. He took a good look at Serenity, seeing his own Usagi represented there. Besides, it's not as if I'm going to be alone all that time. He finally nodded. Serenity grinned, and gave him a light kiss. "Then, I think I should go. To stay any longer would be risking discovery, and no one else should know I was here." She rose from the bed, her casual outfit materializing around her form as she did so. "Especially not Usagi. She... I... knew nothing of this until I came here. Besides, I'm afraid I tended to get a bit jealous back then. Somehow, I don't think I would have understood the situation." She laughed once more.

Mamoru chuckled. "So I can't mention this to anyone, not that I'm sure I would want to."

"Well, Luna knows I'm here, and why. If you need someone to talk to, I guess it would have to be her." Mamoru nodded.

She paused as she reached the door. "Mamoru?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you." and then she was gone.

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Serenity returned to the small lake where she arrived. Seeing it in the morning light, she realized why it had looked so familiar. It was the same small lake where she had first met Small Lady. As she approached, she could see two figures standing out at the end of the small dock.

The first she easily recognized as the slightly ethereal form of Meiou Setsuna. Sailor Pluto. The other she didn't recognize, although something about the woman tugged at Serenity's memories. Serenity spoke to Pluto as she approached. "Luna said that she thought someone was meddling in things. I should have guessed it was you."

"Luna always was rather perceptive, wasn't she?"

Serenity nodded. She now turned and took a good long look at the other woman. This one was solid enough. Tall and elegant. She had bright pink hair tied in two ovoid odango and then trailing down in two long pony tails that rivaled Serenity's own for length. Serenity knew that she had seen this woman before, but still could not remember where.

Pluto continued. "I trust everything went well."

Serenity nodded, and reached within herself once more, as she had already done several times this morning. If she looked in just the right place, she could already sense the spark of new life that burned within her. It was small still, but seemed as bright as the sun when she looked right at it. "Perfectly."

The other woman now knelt in front of Serenity and reached out a hand towards Serenity's abdomen, looking up to Serenity for permission.

Serenity nodded that permission, and the woman placed her hand flat to Serenity's abdomen. Serenity was shocked to feel the woman reach out with her power, probing gently through Serenity, searching out the new spark of life just as Serenity herself had done.

The woman found what she was looking for, and spoke softly. "Hey there, little one. How are you doing? You've got quite a life ahead of you. There will be rough spots, but just hang in there, and everything will work out in the end." she fell silent, and Serenity could feel the woman go into perfect sync with the new life inside of her. Which was impossible. Noone could go into a 100% perfect link with another. The differences between any two people would always intrude to create imperfections in the link. Even with twins, there would be differences. No. For a perfect link, the two linked would have to be practically identical. They would have to be the same person, for all intents and purposes.Which she realized was exactly the case.

"Small Lady."

The woman broke the link, and rose to her feet, shaking her head. "Not so small, any more." She grinned. "I generally go by my given name, these days. Usagi. Or Princess Usagi for more formal situations." she stepped back to her place beside Pluto.

Pluto spoke "You got to know her as Chibi-Usa, long ago. I thought you deserved a glimpse of how she turned out." Pluto turned, and, with a grand wave of her staff, caused a Time Gate to appear at the end of the dock. "And now we must go. I must see both of you returned to your own times."

Serenity glanced at Princess Usagi. "Can't I have a few moments with her? Just talk to her for a bit."

Pluto shook her head. "I'm afraid not. To let the two of you talk would be dangerous. The chance of Princess Usagi telling you something that you should not yet know is too great."

Serenity might have protested, but Princess Usagi spoke up. "She's right, mama. We can't take the chance." She stepped forward and gave Serenity a hug. She whispered in Serenity's ear "I love you, mama."

Then she broke off the hug, waved goodbye, and vanished through the now open Time Gate.

Pluto motioned for Serenity to enter as well. Serenity gave one last glance out at the city of her youth, and began the journey home.

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Epilogue...

Serenity was again sitting at state. And once again her mind was wandering. The subjects of her thoughts were quite changed from the last time.

She ran her hand across her belly. Her condition was not yet public knowledge, but it wouldn't be long. Pretty soon her pregnacy would be visible. A public announcement was planned in about a week, though, to forstall any rumors. Her thoughts turned back to the days right after her return. Endymion had been waiting for her at the Time Gate, and the two of them had immediately left on one of their irregular vacations. Endymion had been at his creative best, and it had been the most romantic week that she had had in a long time.

She had questioned him about her visit, and he had acknowledged his memory of it. He had remembered the visits when she first had brought up her worries, and had known how things would work out. But he had kept his promise to her, made by him a millennium ago, and not told her anything.

She had questioned him about her other visits, but he would say little about them, except that she had "kept him quite busy" for awhile. She had given up on trying to get any details out of him, and had simply asked about the number of visits, since it could be assumed that every one of those visits had been designed to produce a child. She wouldn't have gone back to Mamoru simply for sex. Endymion was quite capable in that department. Endymion had responded honestly that he didn't know how many times Serenity had visited him. He hadn't counted. He hadn't *wanted* to count. Who wanted to know exactly how many children they would have in their lifetime? But the implication was that their family would eventually be quite large.

She smiled at the thought, and lightly brushed her thoughts across the still tiny form of Small Lady within her. She liked the idea of a large family. The future was looking quite bright.

And that brought her to the other change since she had returned.

Contrary to her expectations, the sense of impending doom that had oppressed her for the last year had not returned. She thought she knew why. She no longer had any doubts about the coming days. Yes, they would be hard. Yes, there would be much pain before things were through, but she no longer doubted the outcome. They would come through those dark days to arise again on the other side. She had the key to their victory slowly growing within her.

Yes, the future was quite bright, indeed.

The End.

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