Hi, HI!  How's everyone this great day?  I'm just great for a change!  
Yep, I'm even doing good in school!  And it's a three-day weekend!  
YIPEE!  HORRAY!

Okay, for all those people who have been writing me wondering when 
Nikki-chan is going to get her next chapter of "A Trusting Heart" out, 
she is just about finished with it and it will hopefully be out next 
week.  No promises, let's just hope!  And for those of you who haven't 
been mailed by her yet, she's at home right now and her parents 
computer crashed.  Great, huh?  If it's not one computer, it's another!  
So she has just been able to get back on and you should be getting 
mail soon.  You have no clue how many people are asking *me* when she 
was going to get it out!

I'm really mad right now.  You wanna know why?  I'll tell you why.  I 
just read an anti-Usa/Mamo fic!  I hate those things!  People, if you 
write fanfiction and make Darien and Mina or Serena and Andrew together 
and have a *serious* relationship going where one is cheating on the 
other, then I suggest you stop writing fanfiction because that totally 
goes against what Sailor Moon is about.  Sailor Moon was created by 
Naoko-san with the idea of forever love between Usa and Mamo!  I 
really hate those fics and have to stop myself from flaming those 
people!

Okay, now that that's out of my system, please read and enjoy!

RATING: PG, maybe a mild PG-13 for the violence.  I just want to say 
that I am totally against violence and child abuse even if I do write 
it in my fics.  So don't get the wrong idea.

DISCLAIMER:  Well, you see what happens when you claim to own Sailor 
Moon?  They lock you away in the mental institution and throw away 
the key!

Quote of the Week: "Some say it's holding on that makes you strong.  
Sometimes it's letting go."
It was just written on the blackboard in Biology one day and I like 
it!

FINAL AWAKENINGS
CHAPTER 10

____________Promises and Revelations____________

Ilene Tsukino looked down at the girl sobbing in her arms and held 
her daughter tighter.  The Sailor Scouts looked down and away from 
their Prince and Princess.

"We failed..." Sailor Venus whispered.  "We actually failed."

Sailor Moon let go of her mother and looked at Venus.  "NO!  No, you 
haven't failed!" she insisted as she wiped tears from her eyes.  "You 
couldn't have been here any quicker and we couldn't call and..."

Tuxedo Mask walked to Sailor Moon and held her.  He looked over her 
shoulder at Mercury, who was frantically typing into her computer.  
"Any luck?" he asked.

Mercury didn't even look up and shook her head.  "I can't track her!  
There's a tracking device in Luna-P, but it's not with her.  I'm not 
aware of anything else that she has on her that I could possibly track 
her with..." Mercury trailed off and looked away from her computer.

"What about her Time Key?" Sailor Jupiter asked as she looked at 
Sailor Earth out of the corner of her eye.  She did not look happy.

Mercury looked up in slight shock.  "Yes, why didn't I think of that?" 
she murmured.

While this was going on, Artemis ran to Luna and Terren.  "Are you 
two alright?" he asked as he helped Luna up as best he could.  Sailor 
Jupiter saw them and rushed forward to pick Luna and Terren off the 
ground.

The Tsukino's watched, and listened, with wide eyes and ears as Luna 
and Terren proceeded to talk to Jupiter and the other cat in the room, 
Artemis.

"Yes, fine, Artemis," Luna answered as Jupiter set her and Terren down 
on two padded chairs.  "Just a little bruised."

"Yeah, " Terren said with a chuckle.  "I've been hurt worse by Rose 
swinging her backpack!"

"OH MY GOSH!" Illene exclaimed.  "Those cat's just talked!"  She and 
her family stared wide-eyed at the three cats.  Serena had to smile.

Suddenly, two men burst through the doorway, out of breath.  Greg and 
Andrew stopped to breathe and looked up.  "Is every thing okay...?" 
Greg trailed off when he saw the Tsukino's.

"It's okay, guys," Sailor Moon whispered.  "They know.  Tuxedo Mask, 
Earth and I had to transform."

Andrew walked up to his girlfriend when he noticed the tears in her
eyes.  "Hey, you okay?" he asked as he slipped an arm around her 
waist.  Mina shook her head and watched Serena try to tell her parents 
what was going on.

"Serena, what is this?" Illene asked gently.  "You are...?  And those 
cats...?  Your friends?"

Sailor Moon looked down.  "I'm so sorry, Mom, Dad, Sammy.  I couldn't 
tell you, and you shouldn't even know right now.  I-I can't explain 
right now, I need to find Rini.  When we find Rini, I'll explain 
everything, I promise," she said with pleading eyes.

Kent looked down in thought and then back at his daughter.  "Who was 
Rini calling 'Mommy' and 'Daddy?'" he asked as he glanced at his 
daughter with determined eyes.

Sailor Moon sighed and didn't meet his gaze, "Daddy, I'll tell you 
everything when we find her.  Mercury, any luck?" she called to her 
blue haired friend.  She didn't answer.  "Mercury?"

"Huh?  Oh, sorry, Sailor Moon.  It's just that according to this, 
the Time Key is in your bedroom," she explained as she typed into her 
computer.

"MY room?!" Sailor Moon exclaimed in shock.  "Oh no, maybe...she took 
it off?"

Sailor Mars shook her head.  "You know she doesn't take that off!  It 
her only way home."

"Let's just say it fell off then," Sailor Earth put in icily as she 
glared at her brother.

Behind his mask, Darien cringed.  If she had found out by his mouth 
and not the circumstances that she was forced to, Darien knew Rose 
would have taken the surprise much better then she did.  "Rose, please.  
If you just let me explain why-"

"No," Rose cut him off.  "Two weeks ago, I thought that was it.  I 
knew everything you did as best I could with out being there.  Did 
you not trust me or something?  Was that it?  Am I not trustworthy?"

Sailor Moon's mouth dropped open.  "Rose!  No!  It's not that-"

Sailor Earth shook her head.  "What ever, Serena.  Later," she said 
as she turned to walk out of the house.

"You walk out now, and I'll strip you of your powers and your title, 
*Princess* Roselyn," Sailor Moon said with a dead undertone.  Sailor 
Earth froze in place as the other Sailor Scouts had a strong desire 
to kneel before their Princess and friend.  "Do you hear me?  If you 
abandon us, your friends and family, then I'll make sure you have 
*nothing* to do with us again."

"You wouldn't!" Sailor Earth gasped as she spun around and felt Sailor 
Moon's eyes pierce her own.

Sailor Moon held her gaze on Sailor Earth.   "I would.  It was my 
fault, and my decision to keep that information from you.  If I was 
you, that would have been too much to handle with what you had already 
been through.  We will explain everything as soon as we find Rini.  
But we need your help, Rose.  Please, help us."

The Tsukino's and Andrew stood in shock at her words.  Never, ever, 
had any of them heard Serena speak to *anyone* like that.

Rose let a tear drip down her face as she nodded.  Serena smiled at 
her, mentally thanking her as she went and hugged her friend.

"Great," Sailor Mars said breaking the mood.  "Now that that's over, 
let's find Rini!"

"But how?" Venus asked.  "We don't know where she is..."

It was at that moment, that they had their answer.

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

"LET ME GO!" Rini shouted as Lucifer growled a warning to her.  "ARE 
YOU DEAF?!  *LET* *ME* *GO* *NOW!!!!!!!!!!*" she screamed.

'By the time I'm done with this job, I will be deaf,' he thought as 
he winced.  "SHUT UP!"  Rini paused for a moment before yelling again.

Lucifer had reached the rendezvous point where Jedite was waiting for 
him, rather un-patiently.  Rini gasped when she saw him and stopped 
yelling.  Jedite chuckled at the frightened look on the child's face.  
"Very good, Lucifer," Jedite said nodding his approval.  "Very, *very* 
good indeed.  You may put her down," he instructed.

Rini whimpered a little but held back the urge to shout.  'Princesses 
don't cry.'  A mental image of Serena came to mind.  'Who came up with 
*that* rule?!'

"What do we do with her now?" Lucifer asked Jedite.  "Take her back 
to King Onyxious?"

Jedite shook his head.  "No.  We need to use her as bait."  Lucifer 
gave him a questioning glance that Jedite shrugged off.  "We don't 
really need her as much as we need her mother."

"MOMMY WILL NEVER GIVE IN TO YOU!" Rini yelled as she curled into a 
small ball.

Jedite laughed.  "Oh, I think she will, Neo-Princess.  We just need to 
let her know where you are, and what we intend to do with you if she 
doesn't come."

His fists began to glow with energy and Rini knew exactly what he 
wanted to do.  She backed up into a corner and squeezed her eyes shut 
as she mentally prepared for the pain.  With a small yell, Jedite 
released his energy at the scared rabbit.  Rini whimpered as the power 
hit her, but she didn't scream.  Jedite continued his assault for 
several more moments, gaining momentum each time he shot her.

Rini couldn't take it any longer.  She knew she shouldn't, but the 
over whelming desire to scream was too much.  With each painful blast 
of energy, he brought her closer and closer to unconsciousness, but 
was determined to keep her awake.  Rini looked at Jedite through half-
closed eyes.  Tears streamed down her face, and she gave in.

"MMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

The crescent moon signal on Rini's forehead began to glow brightly and 
created a massive moonbeam, destroying Lucifer in seconds, and making 
Jedite smile as Rini fainted to the ground from her injuries and lack 
of energy.

"Now we wait.  Come out Serenity.  Where ever you are."

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

The light from the moonbeam shown through the Tsukino's windows and 
the Sailor Scouts ran to them, seeing which direction it had come 
from.  It didn't take long before Mercury had a track on the energy 
and Venus had seen where it had come from.

"Mercury?" Sailor Moon asked worriedly.

Mercury smiled.  "Found her!  She's at twenty-eight street and Bell!  
We have to hurry!"

As the Sailor Scouts ran to the door, the three cats made moves to 
follow them.  "Oh no you don't, guys!" Sailor Moon said as she turned 
back to the cats.  "This is our fight, you stay here!"  Luna was about 
to protest, but they were already out the door.

Illene looked at the door and then back at the cats.  "What do we do 
now?" she asked anyone who would listen.

Greg looked at the door sadly.  'Amy...'  "We wait," he whispered.  
"It's the only thing we can do."

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

The Sailor Scouts had never run so fast in their entire lives.  The 
site that Rini was at was only about half a mile away, so they arrived 
quickly.  When they reached the site they saw nothing and heard 
nothing.  "Oh Rini, where are you?" Sailor Moon whispered as she looked 
around.  Spotting an alleyway, Sailor Moon dashed off into it and let 
a small scream.

The Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask followed the sound into the alley, 
where they stopped.  Rini was there.  She was lying on the ground 
unconscious.  Her hair had fallen out of its' traditional meatball 
style and was pooled around her.  There were some bruises on her face, 
arms and legs along with a small amount of blood.  Tuxedo Mask rushed 
to Sailor Moon who was now holding her daughter and checking her pulse.

They let out sighs of relief when they got a strong one.  "Who ever 
did this is dead," Tuxedo Mask growled under his breath.

The Sailor Scouts exchanged glances and realized that they were 
slightly afraid of the look in his eyes.  They had seen that look 
several other times and usually someone either ended up hurt or dead.

"Well if you want me dead," Jedite spoke from his place in the shadows, 
"than I guess you have to fight me."

The Sailor Scouts whipped their heads to face him.  Mars swore under 
her breath at him and prepared to fight along with the others.  "She 
is quiet a strong child, you know."  Jedite grinned wickedly at Sailor 
Moon and Tuxedo Mask.  "You should be quiet proud of her.  It only 
took one shot from her to kill Lucifer.  Now, if I could only harness 
that power..." Jedite mused to himself.

Sailor Moon stood up with Rini in her arms.  "You'll pay for this, 
Jedite!"

Jedite shook his head.  "No, Princess.  *You* will pay," he growled 
as he began to power up.

Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask braced themselves and prepared to jump.  
The energy sailed towards them and the two gracefully jumped over it.

"VENUS PASSION HEART!"

Venus' attack ripped through the air, but Jedite dodged easily.  "Is 
that all you've got?" he spat out as he shot Venus square in the chest, 
causing her to fall back.

"V-BABE!" Sailor Moon yelled.  She looked at the small girl in her 
arms and set her down outside of the line of fire.  "Stay safe, Rini," 
she whispered as she ran to join the battle.

Sailor Venus tried to stand after the attack, and did managed to with 
Mars' help.

"MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!"

A thick mist shrouded the are, making it so that none could see.

"MARS FLAME WAVE!"

Jedite let out a small cry as Sailor Mars hit him in the shoulder.  
Not being able to see, he began to shoot at the Sailor Scouts blindly.  
The Scouts dodged each attack with ease.  Just as Jedite shot one 
towards Sailor Moon, he through another attack to the area she had 
just jumped to.  The bolt came flying towards her and struck Sailor 
Moon in the lower thigh.  The fog then began to die away so that Jedite 
could see who he hit.

Sailor Moon cried out and put pressure on her bleeding leg, 
attempting to stop the bleeding and pain.  "SERENA!" Tuxedo Mask 
yelled as her ran to her.  With a quick motion of his wrist, Jedite 
sent Tuxedo Mask flying into a brick wall.

"DARIEN!"  Sailor Moon screamed as she tried to stand up and go to him, 
but couldn't.  The pain was too much.  She saw him shift a little bit 
and sent a prayer to him and herself as Jedite closed on her.

"EARTH GROUND QUAKE!"

The pavement beneath Jedite began to tremor and shake as he walked 
toward his target.  "WHAT?!" he said as he was thrown off his balance 
and hit a nearby Dumpster.

Sailor Jupiter rushed to Sailor Moon and helped her up and out of the 
line of fire.  She saw Jedite start to recover and let her lightning 
rod extend.

"JUPITER THUNDER DRAGON!"

The dragon of lightning raced toward Jedite and swallowed him up.  
Jupiter grinned with satisfaction.  But the grin soon fell as the 
creature exploded from the inside because of an energy bolt that was 
heading straight for her.  Jupiter didn't scream as she was caught by 
surprise and thrown backwards into Sailor Moon.

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

Luna paced the length of the Tsukino's living room over and over again 
until Terren finally had it.  "LUNA!  Knock it off!  We're already 
nervous enough with out your constant pacing!" he yelled at her.

The Tsukino's looked at the cats as they started to argue.  "Well, I'm 
worried!  They've been gone for a long time and we haven't heard 
anything!"

Artemis interrupted.  "It normally takes them twenty to thirty minuets 
to destroy a normal youma, and this one seemed particularly strong.  
It will take them longer than usual, Luna."  He curled into a small 
ball and wrapped his tail around his legs.  "They can handle it."

Luna looked down in thought for a moment.  "I'm going after them!"

"No!"  Artemis jumped in front of her and prevented her leaving.  "We 
can't!  We can't help them, Luna!  We have to stay."

Luna looked at Artemis sternly.  "Do you remember what happened last 
time you stopped me, Artemis?  Do you remember what happened to the 
Sailor Scouts!?"

Artemis looked away from Luna.  "Luna, we couldn't do any good then, 
and we won't now!"

"If you choose to not help your Princess in her time of need, that's 
your decision, Artemis," she told him, her voice going cold.  The 
Tsukino's looked at Luna in slight shock.  The little bit they had 
learned about Luna in the past half-hour was that she was level headed 
and never got like this.  "I *will* *NOT* abandon her!" she yelled as 
she took off out of the house.

"LUNA!" Greg called as he ran to the door.  But the black cat had 
already vanished from site.

"We have to go after her.  Serena will never forgive herself, or us, 
if she gets hurt in the battle!" Andrew said as he walked up next to 
Greg.  The Tsukino's nodded in agreement with Andrew, though nervous 
about possibly having to go out during a youma attack.  Everyone, cats 
and human alike, took off into the night to bring Luna back before she 
got hurt.

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

Luna had enough of a head start that they couldn't catch up to her.  
Luna knew that the others were after her, but if there was anything 
she could do, she knew she had to be there.  She spotted someone lying 
on the ground only twenty or so feet ahead of her and ran faster to it, 
fearing the worst.  "Oh Serenity!" Luna cried out as she got a good 
look at Rini's bruised face.

"LUNA!" Illene called as she spotted the cat up ahead.  "You could 
get-OH MY GOD!" she screamed when she saw Rini lying on the ground.  
She picked the little girl up and cradled her.  "Rini...?"

The others were behind her and got just as good of a look at Rini.  
Kent kneeled down so that he was next to his wife and niece-or 
granddaughter, he didn't know which or how.

"If Rini's here, where are the girls?" Terren asked.

"JUPITER THUNDER STORM!"

A man's scream came from the alleyway, followed by a girls' own scream.  
Sailor Moon flew out from the alley and hit the ground.  HARD.  
"Owie..." she muttered under her breath as she stood up.

"Sailor Moon!" Luna yelled to her mistress.

Sailor Moon turned and saw everyone there staring at her.  "Luna!  
Mom, Dad!  What are you guys doing here!?" she asked as she limped 
over to them while holding her thigh.

Her family stared at her in astonishment.  It was clear that she was 
hurt; if not from the limping, then from the trail of blood that came 
from her thigh.  Her mother put her hand over her mouth at the site, 
but Serena seemed to brush it off.

"It's dangerous here!  You need to leave, and please, take Rini with 
you!" she begged.

Kent rushed forward and took his daughters hand.  "SERENA!  You're 
hurt...!" he trailed off slightly.

Serena looked down at her leg, and then back at her father with a 
small, sad smile on her face.  "All in a days work, Daddy."

"Is the youma that hard?" Terren asked in slight fear.  If it was that 
hard then they were in a lot of trouble.

Serena shook her head.  "The youma was gone before we even got here.  
Rini took care of it."

"Rini?!" was the immediate response.

"She's strong, but she couldn't be *that* strong!" Luna said in awe.

Serena nodded.  "She still hasn't learned to harness her powers fully, 
but all that untapped energy must-"

Another scream came from the alley and Sailor Moon jerked towards it.  
"MARS!"  As she was about to run back to the battle, the fight came 
to her.

The Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask, who had regained consciousness, 
came running out of the alleyway towards her.  Earth was helping 
Tuxedo Mask, and Venus was helping Mars.

"Meatball Head!" Mars yelled as she made her way over to Serena.  "You 
could have come back to the fight!"

"Put a sock in it Mars!" Sailor Moon yelled back.

Jupiter broke it up.  "Settle it later you two.  We need to take care 
of Jedite.  He may know our identities.  We need to get rid of him for 
good this time!"

Jedite walked causally to the Sailor Scouts, who were ready for him.  
"Do you still want to fight?  You know you're going to loose."

Tuxedo Mask edged closer to Sailor Moon and took her hand.  She looked 
up at him with her blue eyes and then back at their daughter.  
'Rini...'

"Just hand over the Crystal, Serenity!" Jedite demanded with his hand 
out.  "I'll make your death quick and let your friends go if you give 
it to me."

Sailor Moon gulped and looked at her friends.  "I won't die," she told 
him with determination in her voice.  "I REFUSE TO DIE!"

"You were always stubborn."  He laughed a little.  "So like your 
mother.  Being stubborn is not good, though.  It sure didn't get your 
mother anywhere!"

"NO ONE INSULTS QUEEN SERENITY!" Jupiter yelled as lightning began to 
play around her rod.

Mars stepped forward and prepared to attack.  "Especially not you!"

"She gave us a second chance to fight you!" Venus cried out as her 
powers increased.

"A second chance of life!" Mercury said as she stepped up.

"Hope!" Earth exclaimed as she brought her staff to bear.

"Love..." Tuxedo Mask said as he looked at Sailor Moon.

Jedite rolled his eyes.  "Nice speech!" he spat sarcastically.  "Was 
it planned?!"  He turned his eyes to Sailor Moon and smiled evilly at 
her.  "What about you, Princess Serenity?  What do you have to say?"

Sailor Moon brought her gaze up to his, her eyes cold and sad.  "I'm 
sorry."

Jedite did a double take.  "What was that?"

"I'm sorry that you will never know how truly great it is to live on 
this planet and feel what we do."

She reached into her Dimensional Pocket and brought her Star Wand out, 
holding it in ready position.  Jedite smiled and prepared his own 
attack.

"SILVER MOON..."

Jedite began to power up and dark grey energy danced around his hands.

"STAR..."

Jedite released his power in a stream of Dark Energy straight at Sailor 
Moon.

"ATTACK!"

Sailor Moon's energy met his halfway to her.  They were evenly matched.  
A stalemate.  Sailor Moon held her breath and willed more of her energy 
to her Wand.

"DIE!" Jedite yelled as he increased his power.

The Sailor Scouts were about to attack when Tuxedo Mask stopped them.  
"WHAT!?" Mars said as she held her attack back for a moment.

"This is her fight!" Tuxedo Mask told her.  "She wouldn't interfere 
with yours, so we don't intervene in hers."  He took a deep breath as 
he watched Sailor Moon gain a little more ground.  "Unless we 
absolutely have to."

Sailor Moon held her ground.  She didn't move and didn't let Jedite 
move either.  The stood there, powers evenly matched for another few 
moments.  Sailor Moon closed her eyes as memories hit her from the 
past few weeks.

"The future's in danger."
"I always get what I want!"
"Flour fight?"
"It's your own fault ya know!"
"Come on, Mom!  We're gonna be late!"
"What's happened to Crystal Tokyo?  What have you done?!"
"MOMMY!  LOOK OUT!!!!!"

Serena opened her eyes slowly.  "For her."

"SILVER MOON STAR........ATTACK!"

The rush of silver light and stars pushed past Jedite's power and hit 
him square in the chest.  "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS SERENITY!" was the 
final scream before he crumbled to the ground in dust.

Sailor Moon collapsed to her knees.  "He's...gone..." she whispered.  
She then thrust both of her fists into the air with her Star Wand still 
in hand.  "YES!"

The others jumped and hugged each other.  Tuxedo Mask rushed to Sailor 
Moon and swept her into his arms, kissing her with more passion then 
he thought possible. 

After a few moments of celebrating, the Scouts came down from cloud 
nine and simply seemed to collapse from exhaustion.  Sailor Moon was 
helped to her daughter by Tuxedo Mask.  "Rini?" she whispered as she 
lowered herself down to the street.  "Rini, wake up!  Rini!"

Rini stirred slightly and mumbled, "Can I have some pancakes, Mommy?"

Serena looked back as Rini's eyes slowly opened.  "No.  Not until 
Mercury makes sure you're okay!" she exclaimed as she hugged Rini 
close.  Tuxedo Mask wrapped both of them up in his cape, seemingly 
wanting to shut the outside world from this one moment in time.

The Sailor Scouts looked at each other and smiled.  Greg slipped an 
arm around Mercury's waist and squeezed her gently, being careful not 
to hurt her anymore.

Kent cleared his throat rather loudly, getting everyone's attention.  
"Okay, now that that's over, would you mind explaining what is going 
on here!?" he demanded.

Sailor Moon sighed, and stood up with Rini still in her arms.  She 
swayed slightly, but caught her own balance before Tuxedo Mask caught 
her.  "I'm okay," she muttered.  She then looked down at Rini.  "Can 
you stand?"

Rini bit her lip and tried to move, but cried out in pain and 
whimpered.  "No..." she sobbed out.  "It hurts Mommy!"

Serena nodded and handed Rini over to Tuxedo Mask.  "Don't worry, 
honey.  He's gone now."

Just then, the sound of sirens was heard coming from nearby.  "Let's 
go!" Artemis yelled as he took to the rooftops.

"Right!" the others agreed as they ran from the alley and into the 
streets with the Tsukino's, Andrew and Greg following them.

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

The Sailor Scouts detransformed as soon as they reached the Tsukino's 
house.  With grumbles and groans, they each collapsed on to coaches, 
chairs and even the floor.  Amy was the first to stand up, and with a 
sigh, she began to check her own injuries before moving on to the 
others.

"We're okay, Ames," Serena told her.  "Check Rini first."

Amy nodded and did as she was instructed.  The Tsukino's watched, 
fascinated as Amy pushed buttons and brought up Rini's injuries on 
her computer screen.  "Cracked ribs...first degree burs...and some 
bumps and bruises."  Amy lowered her computer.  "Rini, what happened 
to you?" she asked.

Rini looked down.  "They wanted me to scream for you guys, but I 
really didn't want to!  I honestly did my best, Auntie Amy!"

Raye ruffled Rini's hair.  "It's okay, Brat!  We understand!"

"Yeah," Mina agreed with a wink.  "It's not like we've never done the 
same thing."

The others voiced their agreements as Amy began to bandage Rini's 
wounds up.  "Let's just hope you have the same healing capabilities 
that the rest of us do," Amy told her.

"'Healing capabilities?'" Illene asked.

Amy nodded.  "Yes.  As Sailor Scouts, we have a connection to our 
various planets that allows us to heal faster than normal humans," she explained.

"I see," Illene stated as she gazed around the room.  "Amy, Mina, Lita, Raye...It makes some sort of sense that you four would be the Sailor 
Scouts..."

"FORGET THAT!" Kent yelled, startling everyone else in the room.  "I 
want to know how my baby girl can be a Sailor Scout!"

Serena sighed and looked up at her father.  "I guess I should start 
at the beginn-OW!  AMY!"

"Sorry, Serena!" Amy quickly apologized as she more carefully this 
time began to clean Serena's leg wound.  "This is pretty deep.  
Andrew?  Greg?" Amy called.

The two young men stood up at the mention of their names.  "I know you 
two can deal with the things the others have, so could you please begin bandaging them up?" she asked.

"Sure, Amy," Greg agreed while Andrew nodded.  The two grabbed first 
aid supplies and went to bandage up the others as Serena started the 
story of their lives.

Before Serena started again, Luna spoke up.  "Serena, if you don't 
want to continue with the story at anytime, then you tell me, and 
I'll take over."

Serena smiled.  "Thanks Luna."

"One thousand years ago, there was a great civilization on the Moon 
called the Silver Millennium."  Serena detailed the tales of the 
Silver Millennium from everything she could remember to what Luna had 
told her.  (AN: I'm going to show the Tsukino's reactions to the major 
news.  Ya know, like Rini...)

When she was only a few minuets into the story, she stopped to let her 
parents absorb the information they had just received.  "All of you 
are *PRINCESSES?!" Sammy yelled.

The girls laughed and Darien cleared his throat.  "No, one of us is a 
Prince."

"Anyway..." Serena said as the laughter died down and the room returned 
to normal.  She continued the story and stopped only when she told of 
the Moon Kingdom's demise.  Tears streamed down her face as the 
memories from that day came flooding back to both Serena and Darien.

"She wasn't reincarnated with the rest of us and...is still on the 
Moon to this day."  Darien wrapped his arms around Serena gingerly 
and stoked her hair, knowing full well that he couldn't help, but knew 
he had to try and sooth her pain.

Illene and Kent watched their daughter as she silently cried into 
Darien's chest.  "All of you remember that?" Illene asked.  "That's 
so sad.  All those people..."

Lita shook her head.  "No.  Only Serena and Darien do.  And...well as 
you can see, it's most painful for them," she whispered to her.  "And 
everyone was given a second chance thanks to Queen Serenity's 
sacrifice."

"If she hadn't done what she did," Raye interrupted, "then Serena and 
Darien wouldn't have had a second chance of love.  None of us would 
have become friends.  And Rini..."

Serena pulled away and wiped her eyes.  "Well, now we get to the more interesting parts of the story," she said with a small smile.

"Interesting is quiet an understatement!" Luna muttered under her 
breath.

Serena shot a look at her guardian cat before continuing through the 
tales of three of the four generals of the Negaverse, carefully 
leaving out the little kiss at the Embassy Ball.  'Daddy will kill 
Darien for that!'

When she reached the time where Darien had been captured by the 
Negaverse, Serena stopped telling the story and looked to Luna, who 
finished up to the part where they almost got Darien back after he 
went after the Rainbow Crystal carriers again.  Serena picked it up 
from there, detailing, with actually as little detail as possible, 
what had happened from the time the Sailor Scouts were 'fighting' to 
the time they died.

Darien looked down during the time Serena told her family that he had 
tried to kill her.  He heard their gasps and small cries of disbelief, 
and couldn't blame them.  There were times that he couldn't believe 
what he had done either.  The battle between Metalia and Serenity ended 
and there wasn't a dry eye in the room.

"You died?" Sammy asked his sister with wide eyes.

Serena nodded.  "It's the risk we take when we fight.  If you aren't 
willing to take that risk, then you shouldn't fight."

Kent turned to Darien and glared at his with cold eyes.  "You tried 
to-"

"He did nothing!" Serena said as she stood up and winced at the sudden 
pain in her leg.  "Daddy, you can't blame Darien for something Beryl 
made him do!"

"But-but-"

"It was brainwashing, Mr. Tsukino," Luna said as she stepped forward.  
"Believe me, there were several times where we would see Darien fight 
it and leave after *helping* the girls."

"Yeah," the others said in agreement.

"Now sit down, Meatball Head, before you open the cut again!" Raye 
told her angrily.

Serena stuck her tongue out at Raye and sat down with a huff.

Serena started the story up again, giving her parents a few laughs 
with the descriptions of Anne and Allan's Cardians.  When it came to 
the part about Darien breaking up with her and Rini coming, they 
listened intently, knowing that the answer of *why* Rini was calling 
them "Mommy" and "Daddy" would be coming up soon.

Serena went on passed the healing of the four Sisters, to the defeat 
of Rubeus and to where Darien's dream was revealed to her.  She 
continued on for a little while longer till the time where Rini asked 
the Sailor Scouts to go to the future with her.

"THE FUTURE?!" Illene screeched.  "But time travel is-"

"Possible, Mrs. Tsukino," Rini whispered.  Somehow, calling her "Auntie 
Illene" didn't feel right after how she had been lying to them for so 
long.  She looked her "aunt" directly in the eye and continued.  "I have 
a key that can take me to the Time Gate and then Puu will let me go to 
the future."

Kent looked at the girl he had called his niece for three years.  Or 
at least, it seemed like it was three years.  She was a *time 
traveler?!*  "Where are you from in the future?" he asked her.

"I come from Crystal Tokyo in the thirtieth century."

Three mouths dropped open and Rose shook her head.  Every time she 
heard when Rini was from or thought about it, she still was amazed that 
this girl could be from so far ahead in time.  She had so many secrets.  
'I hope I will know all of these secrets.  It just makes sense for her 
to be Serena and Darien's daughter,' she thought.  Her face suddenly 
turned sad and she remembered that they already knew, if it were true.  
'But why didn't they tell me?'

Serena cleared her throat and brought the attention back to her and 
told of their arrival in Crystal Tokyo, meeting of King Endymion and 
explanation of what the Dark Moon wanted.  Serena stopped when she got 
to that part and looked at Darien nervously.  Rini wasn't doing much 
better.  She *knew* her grandfather's view of boyfriends; and to find 
out that his daughter would have a child by the boy he wasn't overly 
found of...Rini did not like where that thought was heading.

"I tried to wake Rini up, but couldn't.  King Endymion then told Darien 
and I that...Rini is our...our.....daughter."

Serena looked at her father while wincing, waiting for him to start 
yelling.  But he didn't.  Illene looked between Serena, Darien and Rini 
with wide eyes.  Sammy was simply gaping at space.  Kent Tsukino looked 
at Rini, turned white, and passed out with a *thump* to the ground.

"Daddy!" Serena exclaimed as she got up.  But Amy was ahead of her and 
pulled a smelling salt out and held it under his nose.

Within seconds, Kent wrinkled his nose and woke up.  "I just had the 
weirdest dream that Serena was telling us a story and Rini was..." he 
trailed off.  "It wasn't a dream, was it?"

Amy shook her head and helped him up to a sitting position.  "I'm 
afraid it's not.  Though, I'll say that that particular moment in 
time will forever be my favorite memory!"

Raye started to laugh.  "No kidding!  Endymion was just standing there 
kinda smiling while Serena and Darien turned redder then my uniform!" 
she wiped a tear from her eye and smiled at the glaring Serena.
 "So it's..." Illene trailed off.

"Yes, Mom.  Rini is your granddaughter.  Look, there isn't much more 
to tell, so can you hold off on the questions and killing of Darien 
until *after* I'm done?"

Serena was about to start again until Rose interrupted.  "So what about 
me?  Why wasn't *I* told?" she asked Darien.  "Again, can't you trust 
me?"

Serena's head shot up and she gasped.  "No!  This was me!  I'm the one 
who said we should wait and tell you because it would probably be too 
much for you!  I didn't want you to go into shock or something..."

"Then why did you tell your parents everything and Andrew too, but not 
me?" Rose asked icily.

"Because, going through what you have is different then hearing about 
it," Darien explained.  "Don't be mad, Rose.  We meant well.  I'm 
sorry."

Rose didn't meet Darien's eyes for the rest of the story.  When Serena 
was finally finished, it was very late and most of the Sailor Scouts 
were half-asleep where they were.

"Awesome!" was all Sammy could say when she was done.

"Darien, can I talk to you?" Rose asked.

"Sure," he said as he stood up cautiously and walked with Rose into 
the family room.  The girls exchanged looks and each prayed for the 
best; they knew that Darien was in there begging for forgiveness.

"She can't stay mad forever, can she?" Serena asked aloud.

Rini smiled and shook her head.  "Daddy once told me a story about when 
Sailor Earth was discovered.  It wasn't just like this though."

"Probably because he knew you would be coming back and didn't want you 
to spill anything important," Lita told her with a wink.

Rini stuck her tongue out at her.  "Hey!  I've kept my promise to Puu 
and haven't told anyone about the future."

"But you should tell us what's going on so we can help you," Serena 
whispered.

That caught Rini by surprise and she bit her lip and shook her head.  
"I-I'm tired.  I'm going to bed, Mommy.  Tell Daddy and Auntie Rose I 
said good night."  She stood up and ran up the stairs as fast as her 
injuries would let her.

"Rini!"  Serena moved to get up, but her mother stopped her.

"Let her be, Serena," Illene told her daughter sternly.  "What ever 
happened, she doesn't want to talk about it."

Serena looked at the staircase that led to her room and put her head 
down.  "Yeah.  I guess you're right."

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

It took a lot of begging on Darien's part, but he managed to get Rose 
to accept his apology.  Though he was not looking forward to shopping 
with all of the girls over the weekend, but he could live with it.  
Especially since Serena would be there.

Darien's arms tightened around Serena protectively in his half-awake, 
half-asleep state.  It had taken some pushing from Luna, but they had 
managed to convince Kent to let Darien spend the night, as long as he 
slept downstairs.  Luna had told him that it was possible the Negaverse 
knew who the three who had transformed earlier were.  If Darien and 
Rose went home, they would have to fend for themselves if somebody came 
after them.  Kent agreed after a final shove from his wife.

Darien sat up slightly and looked at her sleeping face, resting so 
peacefully and trusting in his arms.  With a small smile, Darien 
brushed his lips against Serena's and then lay back down with his arms 
wrapped around her.  (AN: Get your mind out of the gutter!  Nothing 
happened!)

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard her whisper to him, "I 
love you."

Darien kissed the top of Serena's head and the last thing he thought 
or said before he fell into the grip of sleep was the answer to that 
one statement.  "I love you."

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

Sailor Pluto would have danced with joy had she not been so expertly 
trained in not doing things like that.  Everything had gone just as it 
should have.

"Didn't I tell you, Pluto?" the voice asked.  "Serenity knows what 
she is doing."

Pluto sighed at the voice.  "Yes your majesty.  I know.  But, if one 
thing changed, it could have meant the end of the future."

The woman stopped for a moment.  "It would have meant the end of 
everything."

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

Rose looked at the other girls sleeping in Serena's room and sat up.  
'I feel so bad for yelling at Serena and Darien.  They were only trying 
to protect me.'  She sighed.  'FINE!  I'll go and see if they're still 
awake and apologize to them!'

Rose got out of bed and pulled on one of Serena's robes.  Silently she 
tiptoed down the stairs to the Living Room where she knew Darien and 
Serena were.  When she got down stairs, she realized she was not alone.

"Mr. Tsukino?" she whispered as she crept up silently behind him.

Kent jumped ten feet in the air and whipped around to face Rose.  "You 
scared me!" he told her while clutching his chest.

Rose smiled sheepishly.  "Sorry, Sir!"  She looked past him and caught 
a glimpse of Serena and Darien asleep in each others arms.  "You don't 
trust my brother?"

Kent shook his head.  "No, it's not that.  I guess, I was..." he 
trailed off not knowing how to finish the sentence.

Rose filled in the blanks for him.  "Making sure it was real?  That 
your daughter really had a thousand year old lover, and a daughter of 
her own?"  She smiled sadly.  "I did the same thing.  It seems strange 
that Rini is their daughter, but also so right somehow that I know 
it's real."  She looked at the couple asleep on the couch once more.  
"I was actually going to apologize.  I can't say that I would have 
done things different if I were in their position.  I guess I would 
have done what they did."

Kent looked at Serena with sad eyes.  "My little girl grew up and I 
never knew it."

"No she didn't," a small voice from behind them said.  The two whirled 
around and came face to face with Rini in pink pajamas and her hair 
down.  "Maybe she's more mature and can arrive on time, but she's 
never going to grow up.  Mars is always telling her she should, but I 
know that no one wants her to act like what people think a real 
Princess, or Queen, should."

Rose knelt down to Rini's level.  "It's late Rini.  What are you doing 
up?  You should be in bed."

"I heard you get up, and...wanted to make sure you forgave Daddy and 
Mommy for what they did.  They were only trying to help!" Rini 
insisted.

Rose smiled at the young girl.  "I know, Rini.  I figured that out and 
realize that I'll just have to use my joke book to get back at them."  
Rini giggled and even Kent had to chuckle.  "That's how you knew that 
I like playing pranks, isn't it?  Because you're from the future?"

Rini nodded.  "Yep!  I knew all along!"

Rose realized what she was saying by this.  "You knew that Darien was 
my brother?!"  Rini managed a weak reply that Rose couldn't hear, but 
knew what she had said.  "Did Darien know?  Or the girls?"

Rini put her hands on her hips, "Do you have any idea how much trouble 
I got into when they figured out that I knew *who* Sailor Earth was 
and who *you* were all along?  I thought I was going to get grounded!"

"Grounded?" Kent asked.

Rini nodded.  "Yep.  They seemed mad enough, but knew they couldn't 
because I was only doing what Puu told me to."  Rini felt awkward.  Now 
that Kent knew, she knew it would never be the same again.  "Mr. 
Tsukino?" Rini whispered, surprising him by calling him that.  "Are you 
mad?"

Kent looked at the little girl in shock.  "Why would I be mad?" he 
asked her, not having any clue why she would think he was mad.

"Kent?" Illene called as she walked down the stairs.  She spotted him, 
Rose and Rini and sighed.  "I told you to leave them alone!  It's been 
a very trying day for Serena and Darien!  Not to mention us..." she 
muttered under her breath.

"He's not bothering them, Mrs. Tsukino," Rini answered for him.  "We 
were just down here watching them sleep."

Illene kneeled down next to Rini.  "What's with the sudden formalities, 
Honey?"

"She thinks we're mad at her," Kent answered.

"Which I personally don't get," Rose put in.

Rini looked away from them.  "For lying.  For deceiving you.  I knew 
all along and I still hypnotized you and stuff."

Illene sighed.  "Rini, we wouldn't be mad at you for that.  Like you 
said earlier, you have to keep the future secret.  You may change it."

"It doesn't mean we don't love you though," Kent put in.

Rose winked at her.  "Yeah, besides, something tells me I'm going to 
have to suck up a lot if I want to find out who I marry!"

Rini laughed, but it soon died.  "Does this mean I can call you, 
Grandma and Grandpa?  And Aunt Rose?" she asked with hope in her eyes.

"Grandpa?" Kent squeaked out.  The light in Rini's eyes died down.  "I 
guess I could live with that!"

Illene voiced her agreement and Rose did to.

"Only if," Rose started, "you help me get your father back for keeping 
this secret from me!"

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

Serena smiled as she crept back to the couch and lay back down.  They 
had made up and now she felt at peace with herself.  As she snuggled 
back in Darien's arms, he spoke, "So, is everything alright now?" he 
whispered into her ear.

Serena pillowed her head against his shoulder.  "Everything is perfect.  
But now, we have to find out why Rini doesn't have a Time Key and what 
it could mean."

Darien smiled and kissed her jaw.  "Don't worry.  Everything will work 
out in the end."

After hesitating a moment Serena nodded.  "Yes.  Everything will work 
out."

'Just don't let it be the very end...'

To be continued...

No real cliffhangers this week!  Hurray!  See, I told you I would have 
another part out this week!  Well, nope you enjoyed.  This is the 
longest part of "Final Awakenings and as of right now, I only have half 
an hour to send it in! Yipes!  Gotta run!  Great, now my brothers on 
the phone!

Stef-chan