YES! I actually found time to get this done! I've been so busy, I didn't think I'd be able to get it out as soon as I did. I've been writing a couple paragraphs a day until today, because I didn't have to go to school until 11:30. *grins* Which was VERY cool. So, with a joyful cry, I hear by announce that this is the LAST installment of Truths! ENJOY! Website: http://clix.to/stef E-mail: stefaniecraig@hotmail.com Website: http://clix.to/stef If you add me to the list of any of these, tell me that you got my name /# from my fics! ICQ: 63467432 AIM: Stefchan2 Yahoo!: Steff_chan MSN: stefaniecraig@hotmail.com DISCLAIMER: I don't own Sailor Moon, but I do own a good portion of this plot. A good portion means ALL! Except for a couple of ideas borrowed from an episode. RATING: PG TRUTHS: FAMILY AND FRIENDS CHAPTER 11 AND EPILOGUE Quote of the Week: "What are you going to do?" "The thing I do best...wing it!" Sally and Sonic - The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Episode 26 __________No One's Fault__________ "Greetings," Dark Lord purred. "I hope you have enjoyed the ride thus far. The Wiseman will be here to join me soon, he just has to take care of Prince Diamond and his brother." His already too dark eyes flashed black and he smiled. "But before that happens, your bodies will be sacrificed to the Death Phantom, and he will bring darkness upon this world." Dark Lord's words slithered around the Soldiers and each tried to contain their own fear, and almost disgust, as they prepared for battle. Sailor Moon squeezed Rini's hand and then let go of it quickly. There was no time. "Alec, please, you have to listen to me," she began gently as she stepped forward. Tuxedo Mask caught Rini as she tried to run with Sailor Moon and held her in a firm grip so she wouldn't get away. He took her arm and handed her over to Sailor Venus, who took her and picked her up. "Tuxedo Mask?" Tuxedo Mask quickly followed Sailor Moon's steps and took her hand in his, caressing it slowly as they both built up courage to face their son. Sailor Moon felt something spill into her heart as Tuxedo Mask kept a strong grip on her hand. "I love you," Sailor Moon whispered as they got closer. "I love you more," Tuxedo Mask whispered back. Sailor Moon half-glared at him out of the corner of her eye. "Now, now, this isn't the time to fight over that." She smiled at him while she said it before turning her attention back to Alec. "You're going to fight me?" Dark Lord asked in a bored voice. "This should be most enjoyable." Sailor Moon gripped Tuxedo Mask's hand tighter and they came even closer. "Alec, please, we just need you to listen for a moment. It's me, Serena," she said softly. Dark Lord rolled his eyes. "I know who you are. I'm no longer a child, and even if I was, I hated it when adults did that. I'm not stupid, just young." Sailor Moon winced at the words, knowing full well that they were true. "That is not the point though! Alec, if you just listen to us! What happened to your mother wasn't Rini's fault!" As quick as a whip, Dark Lord lashed out with his power against Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. The two of them flew back and landed with a loud thud, their hands still clutched together. They stood back up, and waved off the Soldier's attempts to come and help. "Okay, so this plan isn't working all that well..." Sailor Moon mumbled under her breath as she grasped her locket with her free hand. Tuxedo Mask looked down at her. "Let me try," he suggested. For a moment there was no answer and he turned to look at her. "Serena?" He gasped when Serena smiled up at him and opened her eyes. ***************************************************************** Endymion was kneeling beside his wife's frozen tomb, still grieving the losses that he, and the people he loved, had and were suffering from. He rested his head upon the top of the crystal, around her stomach area where he used to place his head and let her stroke his hair. From the sidelines, his sister watched him. She had suffered her own losses, but she knew that loosing a friend wasn't the same as loosing part of your soul. She sighed and shook her head as she turned and walked from the room. She had been following Endymion around since the Soldiers and his children had left, and he wasn't getting any better. As she turned, she heard her brother gasp and immediately turned back around, her staff in hand and ready to battle, before she dropped it and her eyes went wide at the sight. Neo-Queen Serenity stood, proudly, among the remains of her glass coffin. Her eyes were open, and staring at something unknown as she looked beyond even her husband and, seemingly, outside the palace. "Alec..." ***************************************************************** A light surrounded Sailor Moon, forcing all those who were near to shield their eyes, especially Dark Lord, before they could look back on her a moment later. Dark Lord's breath caught in his throat and his eyes went wide. "Mom?" (AN: I'M SORRY! I know it's just like the ep...but...it goes so well with this.) "Serenity!" Venus gasped softly as she watched her friend step closer. "Does this mean..." Mars trailed off. "The Queen is safe?" Mercury questioned. "I hope so!" Jupiter whispered as she watched her friend. "Lord, I hope so." "Mom?" Dark Lord asked again, something in his eyes clearing and he began to step forward. "Mom...you're okay." Serenity nodded. "Alec, please, don't do this anymore." Tuxedo Mask, now King Endymion, stepped up beside Serenity. It was odd, actually, because they were still Serena and Darien, but with different bodies, and they also felt a wisdom that was not theirs, along with memories that were not their own, but they were still themselves, not their other selves. A black cloud appeared above them as Dark Lord/Alec began to move closer and closer to his parents. The Wiseman took shape and he hissed through his teeth. 'I will not let my work be brought down by an overzealous teenager!' "Dark Lord," Wiseman began as the air became perfumed with more dark energy, "do not believe the illusion that this...girl is placing over you." Dark Lord's eyes snapped open and he looked to the Wiseman. "She has control of your Mother's Crystal at this time, she can make you see anything you want to see, and you're seeing her as your healed Mother, but you know that your true Mother will never recover from where she was put by the Soldiers and your former sister." Rini winced at the 'former' that Wiseman used, but said nothing as she watched the evens continue their inevitable dance. "Illusion?" Dark Lord repeated, his voice somewhere between a child's and a young mans. "She's...not my mother than?" "He's lying to you!" Serenity called out, her voice panicky. "Alec, listen to me, I gave birth to you," 'not yet,' her other side added, "I am your mother!" Endymion stepped forward. "Alec, please, we aren't lying, we never have lied to you, and we wouldn't start now. That man is the reason your mother was hurt, he is the reason your home was practically destroyed! Who are you going to believe your parents, who love you more than they could ever show, or a wolf in sheep's skin?" Dark Lord didn't hesitate and began to power up. "No...Serena changed to mother in the blink of an eye, she's borrowing the form of my mother...and you of my father...YOU'RE DESECRATING THEM!" he screamed as he let loose the energy he was building. The Crystal flared to power and blocked the onslaught of power, but it didn't stop him from releasing several more before resting for a moment. He powered up one more time and got ready, seeing his 'parents' were having difficulties maintaining the shield around them. "Sayonara," he whispered. "STOOOOOP!" a small girl's voice screamed. Within a blink of an eye, Rini was out of Venus's arms and in dangers path. She leapt in front of the in-coming blast and her eyes widened at the sight. "ALEC!" she screamed as the blast hit her and then darkness. The Wiseman watched the events and almost laughed out loud. She had killed herself, basically, it saved them time. For a moment, there was no sound, no one moved, and no one breathed, not even Dark Lord. "She deserved it," he said aloud, to himself or to the others was unknown as Serenity and Endymion rushed to their fallen child. "Rini?" Serenity whispered, her voice shaking. "Rini?" "I was hoping to kill you last, Rini," Dark Lord said as he recovered from the initial shock. "You're stupid." Rini opened her eyes and turned to look at her brother. "I'm sorry, Alec, but don't hate mom and dad. I didn't take the Crystal to get them hurt, Alec, I honestly didn't!" Endymion and Serenity exchanged a look over Rini's head, not quite believing that Alec had been correct when he said Rini had taken the crystal. "They aren't our parents, Rini," Dark Lord said with out emotion. Rini smiled at him, "You're so sure?" she managed to whisper before she, finally, gave in to sleep and passed out. "SMALL LADY!" Endymion and Serenity cried when Rini's eyes close. Serenity turned and gazed up at her son, but he was emotionless, except for one small tear made that made it's way down his cheek, but nothing other than that. "Alec, now you must listen, you heard it right from Small Lady, she didn't mean to, and she's sorry...Alec, can't you see that? She tried to show you through her sacrifice! Alec, listen to me!" Using this opportunity, the Wiseman began his web of lies, again. "Don't listen to her, Dark Lord, what Small Lady did was noble, but it was to save the frauds that impersonate the people you care about, the ones you are trying to avenge. She even admits to taking the Crystal that allowed your mother to be harmed. Destroy those who would protect them." "Destroy them...they want to protect Rini, and she hurt mom..." his eyes blazed black and he regained his power once again. "You cannot live, Sailor Moon!" Serenity handed Rini over to Endymion and stepped forward again. The energy streamed harmlessly past her and off into oblivion as she continued to go forward. "Alec, one thousand years ago, I lived on the moon with my mother, Queen Serenity. Today, I live as Serena Tsukino in Tokyo Japan. And in one thousand more years, I will be Neo-Queen Serenity of Crystal Tokyo." "Liar." "Than see me as Serena!" Serenity exclaimed. "Did she ever lie?" Dark Lord blinked. "No...Serena never lied and neither did mom." From Endymion's arms, Rini stirred and sat up a little. "Sit still, Rini," Endymion told her. He looked up and saw the Wiseman, who was still releasing the energy of the Dark Crystal into Alec. He set her on the ground and drew the sword at his side and lunged at the Wiseman, only to be propelled back when he hit the dark energy that Wiseman was emitting. "DARIEN!" Serenity cried. He stood up right away, waving to her to indicate that no damage was done. If the Wiseman could frown, he would have, as he increased the dark energy to envelop the three who were trying to turn Dark Lord back to the Prince, as well as Dark Lord himself. "PRINCE, PRINCESS!" Venus screamed as she began to run forward, but stopped when she reached the edge of the darkness. "Good luck." ***************************************************************** Serenity blinked at the darkness and looked around. They were still on the ground, but nothing could be seen in the blackness. An outlined figure came closer, but Serenity didn't tense up, knowing who it was. Endymion came to Serenity's side carrying Rini with him. "Where's Alec?" Serenity asked as she held her Crystal close to her body. "We don't know," Rini whispered as Endymion set her down, she having regained part of her strength. "I'm right here," Dark Lord said as he approached his family from the back with the Wiseman trailing behind him. Darkness surrounded the two men as the white light encased the small family. Rini stepped forward, and Serenity and Endymion made no move to follow her. They couldn't do anything at this point. "Alec, if you need to take revenge, please, take it on me," she whispered. "I know what I did was wrong, I wish I could undo it, but I can't. If you take revenge of me, than you can't be mad at anyone." She closed her eyes and stood there with her hands clenched. "With pleasure, brat," Dark Lord hissed. A tear slipped down Rini's cheek as she heard her parents call out for her and begin to move towards her, but it was too late as Dark Lord's power came towards her once again. Wiseman's demeanor brightened, maybe she would finally die. However, just as the power came with in inches of her, a bright light came from the tear that was slowly making it's way down her cheek. Serenity and Endymion didn't need to shield their eyes, but the other two did as the tear began to crystallize and form into the lost Silver Crystal. "That's..." the Wiseman trailed off. "Mom's Crystal!" Dark Lord whispered as Rini held the Crystal in her hands, her face shocked. As he listened to her next words, he felt everything he had felt before, all his anger and hatred towards her, slowly melt away. "That time I touched it..." Rini trailed off as realization and her memory of what had happened that day returned. "I wanted to be like mom...and when I touched it, it vanished and I ran away and came to this time, thinking I could save mom with Sailor Moon's Silver Crystal. I thought I had destroyed our Silver Crystal, but it was in me the whole time." She smiled as her energy returned and her parents came up from behind her, Serenity holding her own Silver Crystal. Serenity raised her Crystal towards the sky, and opened her heart to Alec, sure that she could get him now. The look in his eyes said everything right now. "MOON CRYSTAL POWER!" Dark Lord walked forward as he saw the light, he walked straight into it and when it hit him, he collapsed to the ground. Wiseman nearly screamed in rage as he watched his minion fall down to the ground, unconscious from the purifying energy. "This is the last time, Serenity!" he roared as he raised his glowing crystal ball and began his onslaught of energy. Serenity held up her own Crystal and called out, "MOON CRYSTAL POWER!" The battle began. ***************************************************************** Outside of the whirling vortex of darkness, the four Soldiers awaited the return of their friends, knowing full well that they would come back. "It's been too long," Jupiter said softly as she paced back and forth. Mercury nodded her agreement with Jupiter and put her computer away. "I don't know where they are, I can't find them in that thing." Mars paced along with Jupiter and glared at the energy, simply pissed at it for not letting her friends out yet. "We should be in there with them, not out here waiting and worrying!" Venus exclaimed as she stood up. "We know, Mina, we feel the same," Mars sighed. Suddenly, a bright white light began to erupt from the darkness and went towards the sky. "The Crystal!" Venus yelled. Realization filled her. Serena was fighting the final battle, with out them. "Guys, give Serenity your power!" she ordered the Soldiers. "Hurry!" She knelt where she was standing and conjured everything she had in her. The others followed her example. "VENUS STAR POWER!" "MARS STAR POWER!" "JUPITER STAR POWER!" "MERCURY STAR POWER!" ***************************************************************** The battle raged on, with Serenity receiving emotional support, as well as power, from her family. Rini had even started to use the Crystal, despite her parent's attempts to stop her. But it wasn't enough, and the Wiseman was gaining strength. Everything was a blur for a moment, but by an unspoken command, Serenity and Small Lady increased their powers at the exact same time, causing the Wiseman to lose ground, but it still wasn't enough. Endymion gripped Serenity around the waist, also throwing everything he could into this power. Suddenly, four bright lights penetrated the darkness and Serenity grit her teeth. "NOW!" "MOON CRYSTAL POWER!" both mother and daughter yelled at the same time. The Wiseman's eyes would have grown wide, if he had eyes, as he realized that with out Dark Lord, he couldn't beat them all. "I will retu-" he said as the white light hit him, and engulfed the darkness. Endymion watched the last fragments of darkness dissipate around them and his eyes lit up. Looking around, he saw the four Soldiers kneeling behind them, being almost too tired to stand, and Alec, the real Alec, was lying on the ground in front of them, fully healed. To his side, Rini was on the ground as well, unconscious, and Serenity smiled up in reassurance to her King before fading from Serenity to Sailor Moon to Serena and passing out. "SERENA!" ***************************************************************** EPILOGUE __________Goodbye, Hello, I Love You__________ Serena sat up on her hospital bed and sighed as she wrapped her arms around her knees. She smiled as she looked at the two beds beside her that held her future children, both of them near to a full recovery, physically. Mentally...she would have to leave that up to their true parents, she didn't know how to help. A couple of room over, Prince Diamond and Sapphire were in their own hospital beds. Somehow, the two of them had managed to survive what the Wiseman had done to them, and per request of them both, Serena had taken some time to make them fully human, although Darien had strongly been against her having anything to do with Diamond. Serena couldn't say that she would fully trust him either, but he had apologized. The only thing Serena could do was shake her head at him before she left his room. The sisters had thanked her profusely. As for the Soldiers and Darien, they had been released the day after they first got to the hospital, seeing as though their injuries had been minor. After the battle, all of them had been found lying in the street where the Dark Crystal had once been, and were immediately rushed to the hospital, but when questioned, all of them claimed to remember nothing. No one would have believed them anyway. "Mom?" Alec whispered as he sat up and faced Serena. Serena snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at him. "Yes?" "Are we really going home tonight?" Nodding, Serena gave her best smile. "Yes, you need to go back home and help rebuild Crystal Tokyo." Alec winced. "Even though I helped with the latest destruction?" Serena shook her head. "You're not Dark Lord, Alec, you're Prince Endymion Alexander, so I don't see how you could have done that." "I was jealous of Rini...I was angry at her. I can't forgive myself for that." Serena's eyes softened and she shook her head. "You will forgive yourself, but you will never forget. Just remember that the only person who needs to forgive you, is you." ***************************************************************** Alec and Rini walked hand in hand up to the Door of Time. The goodbye had been painful for them, but they both knew it was nothing compared to what Serena and Darien were feeling. Alec swallowed. The only person who he hadn't said anything to was his own sister, and he was afraid to. But if he didn't now than he never would. "Rini, I-" "Hey look!" Rini yelled, interrupting him. "There's Pu!" She gripped her brother's hand and smiled at him. Alec smiled back. "Let's go!" Sailor Pluto watched as the two children came skipping up to her, hand in hand, and smiled at the look in Alec's eyes. It was slightly haunted, but Pluto knew that he knew that he was tricked. Something's were, after all, nobody's fault. ***************************************************************** Serenity balanced from one foot to the other as she waited, rather impatiently, for her children. It had been too long, months, since she had seen them and she was anxious, as anxious as she had been when she had awakened and found Endymion, fully healed, by her side. The night had lasted forever, but had also been too short for them both. "Sit still, Your Royal Pain In My Ass!" Sailor Mars hissed as she tapped her foot impatiently. "And if you make goo-goo eyes at him," she pointed to Endymion, who blinked, "ONE MORE TIME, I'm gonna gag!" Serenity smiled and threw her arms around Mars. "I missed you too!" Mars shrieked as Endymion pulled Serenity back with a chuckle. Mars stuck her tongue out at Serenity, who did the same to her before both women began to laugh. "Look!" Venus exclaimed as she pointed to a bright light in the distance. Serenity held tightly to Endymion's hand as her children, and Sailor Pluto, appeared in front of them. "MOM! DAD!" the two children exclaimed as they ran to both their parents. Serenity and Endymion kneeled down and engulfed both of the children in a hug, all of them holding each other. "I'm sorry for what I did," Alec managed to whisper through his parent's tight hold. "We're proud of you, son," Endymion whispered. "We love you, no matter what that man made you do!" Serenity reassured him. Through their tears, they smiled. The healing and rebuilding could begin. ***************************************************************** Serena leaned against Darien as they watched the sun's ray's fade in the distance. It was over, their children were gone and the battle was won. They were Serena and Darien again, at least for the next thousand years. "I'm gonna miss it." Darien turned and looked down at his love. "Miss it?" he inquired. Serena nodded and looked back out to the sunset. "The battles...I'm going to miss them. When they are going on, there is a closeness with everyone, something that we lack during peace time. I don't like to fight, but I like how close we become because of it." Laughing, Darien quickly kissed Serena's forehead, who pouted in return. "I'm not laughing at the idea, you're right the battle brings us all together, I'm laughing because you're right." Serena pulled away and glared at him. "Oh, so I'm right, and that means I'm funny?" Darien's lips were suddenly over Serena's, but when he pulled away and grinned at her, he nodded. "And cute," he whispered as he pulled her close to him and cradled her against his chest. After a few moments, Serena frowned and broke the silence. "Do you think their are more like us?" "How so?" Darien asked her, confused. "There are nine planets and one moon, but only six of us. There could be more like us..." she pondered. "Hopefully their are, but I hope we'll never need them, Serena," Darien said as he kissed her one last time. From afar, Sailor Pluto sighed. She turned and walked through the Time Passage that appeared in front of her. "If only you knew..." she whispered sadly. "If only you knew." THE END! IT'S DONE! *jumps around wildly* IT TOOK ALMOST A YEAR, BUT IT IS DONE! *takes a deep breath* I'm so excited. And I know that this is a BIT of a cliffhanger, but I'm sorry, no more Truths for a while. I'll write more later on, but I have other things right now. Besides, all the creativity I've had with Truths is for a SuperS version, not an S one. As soon as I figure out how to start it, I will, I swear! Stef-chan Website: http://clix.to/stef E-mail: stefaniecraig@hotmail.com Website: http://clix.to/stef If you add me to the list of any of these, tell me that you got my name /# from my fics! ICQ: 63467432 AIM: Stefchan2 Yahoo!: Steff_chan MSN: stefaniecraig@hotmail.com