The Moonlight Densetsu Chronicles by SithLordWiccan

Rating: PG-13
Uber-Setting: Sailor Moon
Disclaimer: Willow, Tara and other Buffy characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, the WB, UPN, 20th Century Fox and others. Sailor Moon concepts and characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi.
Distribution: The Mystic Muse: http://mysticmuse.net
Through the Looking-glass
Feedback: Much appreciated and much requested.
Spoilers: Major spoilers for Acts 26, 27 and 36 of "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon."
Author's Notes: For more information about Sailor Moon, check out its entry on Wikipedia.
Pairing: Willow/Tara

Summary: Things come to a head in the battle between the Sailor Soldiers and the forces of the Dark Kingdom. A new ally joins the Soldiers in their fight against the forces of evil, a friend returns from the clutches of evil, and the one around whom the entire struggle for the future of the Earth revolves is about to learn the true nature of her untapped powers.

I fight as if my very life depended on the outcome of this battle. I fight only vaguely aware of how close to the truth that statement really is. My life does indeed hang in the balance during this fight; not only mine, but the one that I love with all of my heart.

Tara awoke with a start, her heart racing as she gripped the sheet with a vice like strength that came to her readily from the adrenaline coursing through her as the memory of the nightmare came back to her.

Settling back down on the bed, her heartbeat slowing down as she recovered her wits, Tara leaned over to one side to take a look at her alarm clock. "6:30am?" She let out a breath in exasperation. "Most normal people are already awake by now, having breakfast and generally going on about their business without having to needlessly worry about things." Lowering a hand to rub the spot where, in her dream, she had been skewered, Tara half smiled and came to a rather sobering conclusion.

"Then again, I don't have the luxury of doing that, do I? And I'm not exactly normal, aren't I?"

The smile on Tara's face widened as she realized that most people, especially people her age or younger, had a point in their life when they felt as if they weren't normal. Usually it happened in their teenage years, lasting for some time before, as they entered adulthood and realized their place in the world, that sense of detachment faded and they became, more or less, functional members of society.

For Tara, that moment had begun when she was six years old, and persisted throughout the whole of her life, leaving her with the very real feeling that she wasn't, nor would she ever be, a functional member of society.

Of course, it didn't help that for the most part of her adult life, she had spent much of her nights as a costumed vigilante; her actions borne out of her desperation to find that which she hoped could bring about the key to solving the mystery of who exactly she was and how she came to be here at this place and time.

And why she had, despite her misgivings, gotten involved with a relationship with Willow.

Tara had eventually found the answer to that question, learning that she was important to her in more ways than she had imagined. "Who would have thought that I would have found both my past and my future in someone so dear to me in the present?"

The image of her girlfriend appeared in her mind's eye: wispy, auburn hair framing an innocent and cheery face that was capable of a wide range of emotions. When that face showed sadness, you could not help but be touched. It was also capable of giving the most expressive and most heart warming of smiles. It was, in short, the image of the perfect woman.

It was also an image that went completely against the one that she had gotten to know Willow by over the course of the past three months: the blonde, pigtailed form of the Sailor suited Soldier of Love and Justice, Sailor Moon, sworn to defend the Earth from the forces of the Dark Kingdom. More than that, she was the reincarnation of Princess Serenity, heir to the ancient Moon Kingdom and keeper of the Mystical Silver Crystal.

The Mystical Silver Crystal, which was the very thing she herself had been looking for.

And all it had taken was once again being stabbed by a female warrior working with the enemy. This time, however, it was due to the actions of one of Willow's friends, having been brainwashed by the enemy into working against her. During her stay, Tara had told Willow that she would work together with her and the rest of her friends in finding a way to get her back and put an end to the threat that the Dark Kingdom posed to Earth. But while Willow had readily agreed to her help, the others were less than happy for her assistance.

It didn't really surprise Tara all that much. It had been her assistance, after all, that had driven a wedge between Willow and her friends and led to Fred being captured in the first place. And knowing now that it was a secret piled among other secrets that, had they been avoided, could have prevented so much trouble, it wasn't difficult to sympathize with their position and realize that it was going to take them all a while to get used to things.

Sighing, Tara got out of bed, stretching out her stiff joints and kinks as she moved to the bathroom, coming to another inescapable conclusion. "I may not be normal, but I certainly have to act like it."

Emerging from the bathroom twenty minutes later, a towel wrapped around her body, Tara sifted through her dressers to pick out the clothes she would wear that day. Normally choosing to wear flattering tops and long hemmed skirts, she instead chose to wear a pair of denim jeans and a tank top that not only heightened her obvious assets, but gave her the overall look of a truck driver, rather than a voluptuous woman.

"Why not?" she thought to herself as she put the shirt on. "I act like one at night, I might as well dress like one during the day."

Moving to sit down on her bed, Tara reached over to the nightstand and picked up the remote to her TV, intent on watching some of the morning news. She was about to turn on the TV when she began to hear the faint sound of a piano playing somewhere nearby.

It was not the first time she had hear it, either. It had been mere days after Willow had gone back home after spending her winter break here that she had first heard it. And at least once a day ever since. It was strange, certainly. But what was stranger was the fact that her nightmares had begun almost at exactly at the same time.

Getting off the bed, Tara followed the sound of the music to the living room, finding in the center of the room a large grand piano. She briefly wondered where it had come from when she noticed something even more disturbing. Sitting at the head of the piano, hands moving over the keys with the skill of Mozart himself, was a figure clad in white and silver, a figure that turned to look at her now and smiled.

The single word conveyed a familiarity between the two of them that was clearly obvious to him. And while, much like when she had first encountered him, she was certainly familiar to him, the feeling certainly was not reciprocated on Tara's part. All she knew of this person was the fact that he was one of the enemies' servants; and that he, along with three others, had attacked downtown Sunnydale three weeks ago. In the time since, despite learning all that they could ever hope to use against herself, Willow and her friends, they hadn't made a move against them.

So why was he confronting her now in this fashion? "Only one way to find out," Tara thought as she cleared her throat. "Who are you?"

The smile on the man's face widened a fraction as he chuckled slightly, his hands never leaving the piano keys. "I'm surprised you haven't figured that out by now. Then again, I can't really blame for you for that. I've been trying to figure out the answer to that question myself. And if I can't come up with an answer, I certainly can't expect you to do so."

"So what exactly do you expect me to do?" Tara asked, her patience and willingness to go along with this game already wearing thin.

"Remember," the man whispered, the tempo of the music he was playing picking up. "Just…remember."

As the music grew in loudness and intensity, the piano and the man playing it began to fade from sight, leaving Tara alone in the living room, her only company the melody that continued to play long after the source had disappeared.

Spike drew a breath and let it out slowly, opening his eyes as he did so. He had hoped to make a connection to the Mistress this time, but he had failed to do so once again. Looking up at the ceiling, he sighed, knowing that after a lifetime of confusion on both of their parts, he couldn't expect things to right themselves within days.

He would continue to try, however. He had to make that connection to the Mistress, and by association, to make the two halves of his personality, the courageous and honorable warrior that served the Mistress and the psychotic emotionless war machine that Faith had manipulated him into, become one.

But it was dangerous to do so out in the open. Only through this way could he hope to accomplish his goals. Faith needed to know that he was still under her control. And there were others that could hamper his best efforts.

Spike turned to look at the newcomer, not at all surprised to find that it was Angelus. The expression on his face telling him all he needed to know. "I'm doing something that doesn't concern you."

"You're trying to contact her, aren't you?" Angelus asked, moving to begin circling the piano like an albatross circling the vulnerable carcass of a wounded enemy. Knowing that there was no way to answer that question without Angelus making him pay for it, Spike decided to give his comrade a reason to do so.

"So you've recovered your memories, as well? I would have thought that you strength of will was such that not even the energies of the Crystal would have manipulated your mind. Then again, if Faith could corrupt your mind as easily as she did, perhaps your mind is not so strong after all."

Spike knew his words would bring a reaction from Angelus, and so he was not at all surprised to feel the other's hand on the back of his head mere seconds before it was sent violently into the piano keys, the impact producing a loud, discordant note that reverberated throughout the room.

"You insolent fool," Angelus spat as he loosened his hold on Spike's head and allowed him to right himself. "What is it that you hope to accomplish by doing this?" When Spike did not answer him immediately, he turned to leave, getting halfway across the room before he got an answer.

"I think it might be a good idea for her to be made fully aware of the seriousness of the situation." Angelus stopped and turned back to find Spike standing defiantly before him, his eyes boring deep into his own. "Especially if you plan to kill her."

"It has to be done," Angelus replied. "She was responsible for what happened in the past, and must be stopped before it could happen once again."

"All the more reason to reawaken her memory fully," Spike countered. "If you truly believe that the Mistress must die, she should be made fully aware of why that must be so." An uncomfortable silence followed this before he added. "It is curious, though. You were once considered to be the most loyal of us. What would make you want to so willingly break your vow to protect the Mistress?"

Angelus knew the answer to this question, seeing in his mind's eye the image of his comrades dead at the ruins of the Moon Palace and himself discovering this and howling in grief and rage at seeing them dead. He was not at liberty to share this information, however, and so said instead, "Perhaps what I seek to do is another form of loyalty. And I won't allow anyone to stay in my way." Withdrawing his sword in one fluid move, he brought it up against the side of Spike's neck. "Not even you."

Spike wasn't at all fazed at the thought of having his life ended at the hand of the man who had trained him. In fact, he was disgusted by the way his leader, his teacher…his friend was behaving. It was not the man that he had once known.

Angelus held his gaze on Spike and his sword to his neck for several more seconds before sheathing it and turning to leave. Spike stood where he was for some time afterward before he returned to the piano and began to play once more.

"I will help you, Mistress," he thought. "And in doing so, perhaps help all of us."

In the time since Faith's declaration that his services were no longer needed in her mission, Oz had kept mostly to himself, wondering what it was that he had done in order to earn the scorn of his leader. It hadn't taken him long to figure out what the answer could be: his failure to secure the Crystal. And now she had abandoned all hope in seeing her mission to restore the power of Queen Metallia succeed, instead choosing to place all of her trust in the hands of a brainwashed Soldier and one that would act as her shadow, being her eyes and ears in the human world.

"I should be that shadow!" he thought, drawing his sword and looking at his reflection in the polished blade, growing disgusted at what he saw there: the face of a failed warrior and a failed companion.

Letting out a guttural roar, Oz got to his feet and began to strike out at the walls around him, sending sparks and stone chips flying everywhere. Spinning on his heel to strike the wall behind him, he found his strike halted by someone standing in front of him. Once the anger he felt at this faded, Oz realized who it was, and willed his body to complete the motion he had started, seeing in front of him the one who was the living embodiment of all that troubled him.

"No kidding," Oz snarled, wrenching his sword free of Mercury's grip and throwing it to the ground, the nose from the act echoing throughout the chamber. Slumping against the wall and sliding to the floor, he blew out a breath, expecting the former Soldier to ridicule him much like Faith or one of the others would have done were they in her position.

Oz looked up to find Mercury looking back at him, her expression of emotionless curiosity now tinged with sympathy and understanding. "I know what its like to have feelings of anger towards those I considered friends. They all acted in their own self interests, never bothering to realize the damage they were doing to me until it was too late. I've always felt alone, but never so than prior to that moment."

She walked over to Oz's sword and picked it up by the blade. Moving back to where the young man sat, she held it out to him. "I don't like being alone. No one should have to be that alone."

Reaching out, Oz hesitated before wrapping his hand around the hilt of his sword. Watching as Mercury walked off, he turned his attention back to his weapon, looking once more at his refection in the blade before letting out a snarl and tossing it aside.

Faith closed her eyes in an attempt to blot out the headache she was feeling, but all it managed to do was remind her how this headache was the result of how badly things had gotten so out of control recently.

It was all supposed to have gone so well. After God only knew how long of being imprisoned in this place, she had finally managed to manipulate events that would see her released from this living nightmare and have things set on the path that would see her on the path to her rightful place as ruler of Earth.

And then, just as quickly as things had started to go right, it had all gone horribly wrong. Her warriors desire to please her and bring about that which she wanted had led them all too quickly to fight and bicker amongst themselves, a rather unavoidable side effect of the spell she had enacted on them after they had been resurrected. And then the Guardians of the Princess had made themselves known, meaning that now her plans for world conquest had become even more complicated.

And then her life had plunged directly into the abyss when the Princess had made her appearance when, during the last battle between her warriors and the Soldiers, the mysterious stranger who had been assisting the Soldiers had been dealt a fatal blow. Overcome with grief, she had unleashed the powers of the Mystical Silver Crystal; its light washing over all of those present, not only healing the one who had been injured, but shaking her control on the Shitennou, which had already showed signs of deteriorating given Angelus' actions against her.

He was the one who had been most affected by that incident, his memories of the past no doubt having reasserted themselves. Spike may have also been affected, she could not be sure. He was behaving rather strangely, at any rate, but that was nothing worrisome. As long as he kept his disobedience to a minimum, she was content to leave him be. Xander and Oz did not appear to be affected, which did not surprise her. Their competition for her affection was such that it blinded them from anything that would distract them. If they had been affected, their desire for her would no doubt be stronger than any memories they managed to recover.

This meant that when it came to attacking the Sailor Soldiers and the Princess, Faith had to resort to two others. Mercury was certainly capable of doing so, and had not appeared to be affected by the energies of the Crystal, meaning her hold on the former Soldier was stronger than it was on the Shitennou. It didn't really surprise Faith to know this. The seeds of distrust and hatred for her former comrades had already been implanted in her mind. All she had done was cultivate and nurture them, allowing them to blossom to the form she wished them to be.

No, Faith did not have any fear of imparting unto her the task of eliminating the Soldiers. And even if she were to fail, there was one she had sent to wait in the wings, picking her opportunity to work her way into the Soldiers' lives and embarrass them to the point where their defeat would be easy. In this way, she would do what she had always done: turn a defeat into an opportunity for victory on another front.

"Soon," she thought as she let out a breath and visibly relaxed. "Soon I will have the power of Metallia and the Silver Crystal in my hands. And with their combined power, there will be none to stop me from getting what I want."

A small smile formed on Faith's lips, only to change into a grimace as her headache flared up again. She shut her eyes to fight against the pain, hearing as she did so the faint sound of a piano playing somewhere nearby.

"And what I want most at this moment is to find out who is doing that and rid myself of his presence forever."

Willow stood in front of her locker, absently going through her psychology book to find the piece of information she needed for her psychology paper on the causes and treatment of clinical depression in young adults. In doing so, she found it ironic that her text, as well reviewed a book as could be found within the field, failed to help explain the cause of her current state of mind.

"Not that anything could," she thought absentmindedly as she flipped through the pages. "I highly doubt that the guys who wrote this or any other psychology book had my situation in mind when they all got together in their fancy boardroom office and decided to write them." Finding the page she wanted, she sat down against the locker, laid the book out in front of her atop her notebook, picked up her pen and began to jot down notes.

As she did, she quickly found her mind drifting from the books in front of her to what had happened to her life in the past few months. It certainly hadn't been normal ever since that day back in October when Luna had first appeared in her bedroom, but it had looked remarkably tame compared to the three months that had gone by since then. And she didn't really admit it aloud, but she had rather enjoyed what had happened to her.

Well, except for the whole "fighting-with-her-friends-leading-to- the-capture-of-one-of-them" scenario that had led to her learning of how Tara fit into the whole thing. Ever since learning of her girlfriend's search for the Mystical Silver Crystal, Willow had assumed that Tara was the reincarnation of Princess Serenity, the one whom she and her friends were searching for.

But that cold December day had led to that conclusion being proven false; however, it did not mean that she wasn't involved. Quite to the contrary, in fact: Tara had been involved ever since she was six years old. And despite her intent to keep her safe, Willow found herself shocked that she had been helping her all along, doing so in her guise that one of her friends had not-so-originally dubbed "Tuxedo Mask."

Setting her pen down, Willow heaved a sigh. Even then, Tara had cultivated an air of mystery around her that permeated her so deeply that it was nearly impossible to see her in the guise of a superhero. Then again, she had long had doubts as to whether or not that label could apply to her, as well.

Now she knew the reason why the label of Superhero felt strange to her: it wasn't true.

One of the other revelations to happen on that December evening was the fact that it was not Tara who was the reincarnation of Princess Serenity, but she herself. It was she who was the reborn Princess of the Moon, heir to the long destroyed Moon Kingdom and keeper of the Mystical Silver Crystal.

Willow found her mind drifting to the image of the crystal, currently resting in a jewelry box in her bedroom under Luna's watchful eye. It was as bright and as pure as any diamond she had ever seen. It had been given form by one of the tears she had shed while holding Tara's broken body into her own, the overwhelming power she felt at seeing that act restoring to her the long dormant memories of her past life. She had focused that power into the form of the Crystal, through which she could heal her beloved, having the unexpected by-product of restoring the memories, or at the very least allowing them to come forth easier, of those who had been present.

"I guess that's why things are 'All Quiet on the Dark Kingdom front'," Willow thought, picking up her pen and resuming her writing. Well, things weren't all that quiet. Fred, having been captured by the Dark Kingdom shortly before the confrontation in downtown Sunnydale last month, and by whose hand Tara had nearly died, was even now somewhere in this building, acting for all the world as if there wasn't anything wrong.

But she knew differently. She and Buffy and Anya and Cordelia knew what was wrong. And only they could work together to bring her back and stop the enemy from doing to Earth what they had done to the Moon Kingdom in the past.

"They'll follow me," Willow realized. "We've disagreed on what to do before, but that's over now. They've told me they'll do whatever it takes to bring Fred home and drive the enemy away. But why are they so willingly following me now? Is it because they can see things from my point of view…or is it because they know now that I'm the Princess, whose wishes have to be obeyed without question or debate?"

It was certainly a good question, and asking it brought forward the same question she had been asking herself ever since she had first learned of who she was.

She couldn't answer that question then. She hadn't been able to answer it for the past two weeks. And as she heard the bell ring, she knew that she couldn't answer it now. Getting to her knees, she picked up her book and, getting fully to her feet, put it back inside her locker and closed it after withdrawing her English book. Picking up her notebook and pen, she took off in a running pace and had barely made it ten feet when her feet tangled and she fell to the floor, her books flying away from her.

Wincing at the impact, Willow let out a groan that turned into a half hearted chuckle. She may not know whether or not she was a Princess, a Superhero, or a regular girl pretending to be those two things, but at least in this case, she was the same sort of person she always was. There was a time when she wouldn't have laughed about it, but nowadays, she was desperate for anything that would make her laugh, even if it was at her own expense.

Seeing her binder placed in front of her face, Willow got to her feet, reaching out with one hand to take it, grateful that someone had taken the time to help her out. "Thanks." Once she was standing, however, her happiness turned to worry when she realized who it was.

Tightening her grip on her binder, Willow frowned as she stared at Fred, her emotions betraying her immediately. "What do you want, Fred?"

Fred's face contorted into one of sadness, as if she was unaware of the reasons why Willow was talking to her in this fashion. "What's wrong, Will? Can't friends talk to one another before class?"

"We're not friends," Willow said, the words coming from her with great reluctance. There was a time when that was certainly true; when Willow didn't particularly care one way or the other about being friends with Fred, a feeling shared by the majority of her classmates. But ever since learning of their mutual destiny, Willow had tried her hardest to put those feelings aside where they belonged and tried to make Fred feel as if she had a close circle of friends she could depend upon to get her through life. The fact that she couldn't must have left the young Texas native emotionally unstable, making her an easy target for the Dark Kingdom to convert to their side.

By doing so, they had ironically granted Fred the one thing she wanted most: her friends united in a common purpose. That purpose, however, now included rescuing her from their clutches, a fact that Willow knew would be impossible at the present time, and was most likely why she was here. Knowing that there was nothing they could do to each other while in school, Fred's singular goal appeared to be to find the easiest path to getting a rise out of Willow and making her do something she would regret later.

Her friends would have been able to help, but they couldn't now. Buffy was no doubt in class waiting for her, Cordelia didn't even go to this school, and Anya nowadays spent as much time at her home as she did at school. Despite being all alone, Willow stood her ground, prepared for the worst. "We're not friends."

Fred cocked her head slightly, that singular motion bringing out a completely different change in attitude. Gone was the shy, eager to please schoolgirl image that she had been, her composure becoming that of a strong and capable warrior, one who exhibited no weakness as she sought out the best place to penetrate her opponent and strike her down.

She wouldn't do that now, though. Willow knew of at least a dozen opportunities Fred had to do so in the week since school started again, and yet she hadn't taken them. Whether it was under orders or simply to keep her on edge didn't matter. The fact of the matter was that it made her nervous beyond measure.

"That's right," Fred replied, her voice taking on an icy glare. "We're not friends. We never were friends. You used me. You all used me. You left me all alone. I'll never forgive you for that."

Willow couldn't figure out what Fred was getting at. "If you feel that way, why are you fighting alongside the enemy?"

Fred smiled ever so faintly. "We have the same goals. We both want what you have, and will do whatever we have to in order to get it." Turning on her heel, she walked back down the hallway to class. "And we'll get it by any means necessary."

Willow watched Fred walk into class, unable to say anything that could make things right. Fred wouldn't listen, and she wouldn't feel better by doing so.

Willow turned to find Harmony running down the hallway. "Hi, Harmony," she said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, which was to say not very much at all.

"Hi," Harmony replied, her perpetually perky voice and smile being just the thing Willow needed to liven up her spirits after her clash with Fred. "So, you've got Mrs. French for Psychology next period?"

"Yeah," Willow replied absently, her mind on other things and only vaguely aware of the fact that Harmony was dragging her to class. She relented after a few paces and moved into the class under her own power, confident that, despite Fred being in the same class, there wasn't likely to be anything that could go wrong.

Cordelia sat on the bus bench across the street from Sunnydale Middle School for the Gifted, watching as the other students returned from their lunch breaks and headed inside to go to afternoon classes. She would get up and follow their lead…eventually.

When eventually would be, however, was a question that eluded her at this moment.

She didn't like to go to that school, and it was only because she belonged to one of Sunnydale's most prominent political families that she was forced to, her father deciding for her that the school was the best place for her to get a good education. A good education was important, Cordelia had to agree, but so was having emotional support from friends, something which she never got from anyone who attended the school.

Her only friend had been Willow, who went to school on the other side of town with the other young women who had become important to her, especially Anya. Ironically, of the four who had become her friends, now reduced by one to three, Anya had been the one she had disliked the most upon first meeting her. When Luna had gathered all of them together, it had become obvious to her, if not to everyone else, that she was going to be the source of many problems over the course of the next few months.

And she had been right. Anya's domineering mood, combined with her decreasing ability to put up with the visions which she had learned were the long dormant memories of her former life reasserting themselves, had led her to leave the group, after which it seemed that Anya had made it her life's mission to go after her, doing anything she could in order to convince her to come back. She had finally relented, and just in time, it seemed, for that day had seen many things happen which had totally changed her outlook on life: Fred had been captured and brainwashed into fighting against them, Willow had been revealed as Princess Serenity and Anya had revealed to them the condition that would claim her life within months.

It was these last two things which troubled her. Willow had been her friend for a long time, and they had always stuck together no matter what happened. She felt incredibly guilty about having all but abandoned her at the time when she needed her the most. But it was Anya she was most worried about. The young woman had been so determined to have things go her own way that she constantly clashed with the others, and like them, she had resented it deeply. But now that she knew that her stubbornness and narrow minded attitude towards the others was the result of learning that she would be dead within six months, it made Cordelia think differently about her. Before she had been Anya's most vocal opponent, now she had become her greatest supporter.

She shivered, and wrapped her arms around herself, determined to stave off the cold for as long as she could, the question of whether to go back inside still weighing heavily on her. She heard the soft footsteps of someone approaching then, and turned to look at who it was.

Moving to sit down beside Cordelia, Anya kept her gaze locked on the brunette as she looked back towards the school. "Thinking that maybe I should go back inside." She turned to look at Anya. "And wondering why you're not at Sunnydale High with the others."

"I've decided to take a day off," Anya replied, her tone telling Cordelia that wasn't the answer, but also warning her not to push it. She decided to ignore that feeling.

"Fine," Anya said sarcastically. "Or about as fine as someone standing out in the middle of the cold can be."

"So am I," Anya retorted. "You know how bad it is to be walking around in the cold for hours? I stay out here any longer, I'll be legally declared a popsicle."

Cordelia laughed, then realized why Anya was behaving like this. "Something's wrong, isn't there?"

Anya fell silent before nodding in agreement. "Yes. I just went to the doctor, and…"

"They say there's an operation I could undergo in order to…to cure me. The chances of success are low, but even then, it's likely that they'll be able to remove most, if not all, of the tumor."

Cordelia brightened at that. Good news such as this was very much needed right now. "So what's the problem?"

"Why not?" Cordelia asked, confused and surprised that Anya wouldn't take whatever measures she could in order to save her life.

"It doesn't matter?" Cordelia asked, shocked that Anya would say that. "What do you mean, it doesn't matter?"

"It just doesn't!" Anya shouted, getting up and looking down at Cordelia with contempt. Then, after a moment's pause in which she allowed herself to calm down, added, "I don't want to think about doing anything that could leave you guys vulnerable."

Cordelia looked down at the ground, trying to find the right thing to say. "You could best accomplish that by staying alive."

"I know," Anya said, sitting back down and bringing Cordelia's head around so that they were looking at one another face to face. "But like I said, the chances of success are low, and I don't want to risk my life, not when I'm needed most."

"Don't make this about you," Cordelia muttered, turning away only to have her head brought back around once again.

"I'm not," Anya said. "I don't want to leave Willow vulnerable right now. I want to make sure that Fred comes back. And…and I want to make sure you're prepared for when I'm dead to lead the others in protecting Willow and safeguarding the Crystal."

"You were my second," Anya explained. "In the past life. You were second in command of the Soldiers, as devoted to protecting the Princess…protecting Willow, as I was. When I learned that you were friends, I wasn't surprised. You were always loyal to the Princess, teaching everything she needed to know in order to protect herself. When you left us, I was surprised. I couldn't believe that the one who seemed most loyal to the cause would abandon it so readily."

Anya turned away and continued, "That's why I went after you, tried to make you understand the importance of finding the Princess and being devoted to the mission from the past life. I wanted to make sure…in case something happened, that everything we fought for in the past…and what we want to accomplish in the future…wouldn't be lost."

It was all starting to make sense to Cordelia. This was why Anya had singled her out in trying to get all of the others focused on the mission. Knowing that she had only a short time to live, Anya wanted to make sure that they could accomplish that goal, leaving behind a legacy that promised that, in the eventful case that her plans fail, she wouldn't be leaving them without the hope of succeeding.

"Hope won't be lost," Cordelia reassured Anya. "We'll fight to get Fred back to us, and we'll protect Willow and Tara as best we can."

"But what if we fail?" Anya asked, giving Cordelia the first hints that, under her gruff and determined exterior, she was as unsure as the rest of them as to whether or not the task they had been given was as easily accomplished as she thought it was. "What if we bring about the disaster from the past all over again?"

"Then we'll go down fighting," Cordelia promised. "As we did before. And we'll take as many of them as we can with us. If we do that, even if we fail, their victory will be as hollow as defeat."

Anya smiled faintly, then frowned as she reached for her forehead. Cordelia immediately took notice, standing up to help her remain steady. "What is it?"

"It's nothing," Anya said. "It's just a little headache. It'll pass…" She didn't get any further before she collapsed limply onto Cordelia's body. Panicked, and knowing little else to do, she set Anya's body down on the ground and reached for her bag to dig out her cell phone.

"Willow Rosenberg, Elizabeth Summers, report to the Principal's Office, please."

Willow was grateful to have gotten out of class, even if it meant having to face a dressing down from Principal Snyder for some reason she couldn't even begin to imagine. She didn't know what she had done, but being dressed down for some nonexistent reason seemed preferable to remaining in a classroom being tormented by Fred whenever the teacher wasn't looking.

"Why did Harmony have to take that last seat up front?" Willow thought to herself. "And why did the only available chair have to be in the back of the room beside Fred?" Another more immediate concern entered her mind at that moment. "What was it I did that warranted this?"

No answers were immediately forthcoming as Willow entered the Principal's Office to find Buffy already there, sitting down on one of the chairs near the secretary's desk. And, seeing that she was dressed in a loose tank top and sweatpants, having apparently made her way here straight from the gymnasium without even bothering to change.

"Yeah," Buffy replied, not even bothering to call Willow out on her faux pas. "You?"

"Psychology," Willow answered. "And let me tell ya, I don't know what it was that I did, but I'm glad it got me out of there. One minute more, and I would have knocked Fred for a loop."

"Great way to maintain your secret identity," Buffy muttered, lifting the sports water bottle beside the chair and taking a drink. "And I know what you're thinking, Will. I didn't do anything."

Willow flinched involuntarily, knowing that Buffy had called her out on the fact that she was thinking that the reason why she was here was because she had gotten into a fight. It had become known fairly quickly after Buffy had transferred here that she had a history of getting into trouble at her old high school. There was even a rumor floating around that she had burned down the high school gymnasium, one that Buffy jokingly said she had started herself, and immediately regretted as it soon became all but confirmation of her nature as a troublemaker.

Willow realized that she had done it again. She had misjudged the actions of a friend based on rumor and innuendo. That was an old habit of hers, and she knew that she would have to break it. The last person she had negative thoughts about had been Fred, and it was those thoughts that allowed her to be corrupted so easily by the Dark Kingdom. And if there was one thing Willow did know, it was that she couldn't afford to lose any more allies.

The door to the principal's office opened then, and Principal Snyder walked out; his face a very well manipulated mask of sympathy that looked out of place on him. "Miss Rosenberg, Miss Summers…"

"Settle down, Miss Summers," Snyder said, a hint of his true nature poking through the mask of neutral concern on his face before disappearing. "Neither of you are in any trouble." He turned to Willow. "Miss Rosenberg, we got a call from your mother. Your father had a heart attack and had to be taken to Sunnydale Memorial. Both you and Miss Summers are excused for the day to go meet your mother there."

Willow was confused. Her mother would certainly have told her if something was wrong, but they weren't exactly on speaking terms lately, so the fact that she would do it in this fashion was totally out of character for her. More importantly, she wouldn't have included Buffy in that sort of scenario.

Buffy, perhaps unwisely, called attention to this. "But what about me? I mean, not to sound insensitive, but I think this is more of a family thing. Why did she say I should come along, too?"

"Miss Rosenberg's mother said that it would do her good to have the emotional support of someone close to her," Snyder explained. "I'm sorry, Willow. Your father is clearly hurt if she would think that." Shifting uncomfortably on one foot, it became obvious that behaving kindly towards two of his students was quickly becoming too much of a chore for him, and so he left without another word.

Buffy and Willow exchanged glances. "Definitely not my mother," Willow stated plainly.

"I had to get you here as fast as I could," Cordelia explained to Willow and Buffy as the three walked down the hospital corridor to Anya's room.

"And calling the school and pretending to be my mother was the best thing you could come up with?" Willow asked.

"What was I supposed to do?" Cordelia asked. "Tell whoever it was that answered the phone that one of your friends had fallen ill and had been taken to the hospital? Somehow I don't think that they would have let the two of you get out of school for that."

"She's got a point," Buffy said. "You know how uptight Snyder is, Will. Not to mention how uncomfortable he was talking to us about this. You know he wouldn't have let us go unless it had been an emergency."

"But my mother?" Willow persisted, trying to get an explanation out of Cordelia.

Cordelia, for her part, was rather annoyed at having to be grilled about what she had done. "It wouldn't have worked if I called the school myself, nor would it have worked if I had done so as my mother." She gestured towards Buffy. "And her parents are dead, so that wasn't an option…"

"OK, OK," Willow sighed, sorry to have brought the whole thing up as the three reached the door to Anya's room. Cordelia wrapped her hand around the knob and entered the room, Willow and Buffy following behind her. Anya laid on the bed at the far corner of the room, a doctor standing over her and talking to her as they walked in. Seeing them enter, he looked up at them.

"She'll be all right. She just had a minor fainting spell from exerting herself too much. She'll be fine if she stays off her feet for the next few days."

The doctor nodded and stepped out of the room. As soon as he was gone, Willow and the others took chairs and moved to sit down around her.

"You don't have to," Anya replied, moving to sit up. "I know what you're going to say. And the answer's no."

"Didn't you hear the doctor?" Cordelia asked, her voice cracking a bit as she fought to keep her emotions in check. "There's nothing serious, but you could end up causing yourself serious harm if you don't be careful."

"I'm already dying, Cordelia," Anya countered, her voice devoid of emotion. "I think it's a bit overprotective to be thinking about being careful, don't you?"

Cordelia, caught off guard, couldn't find the words to respond. Thankfully, Willow was there to keep the four of them from sliding into silence. "I could force you to, you know."

"You know what I'm talking about," Willow responded, her voice filling with a firm conviction that was out of place for her. "You may be the leader of us when it comes to fighting the good fight, but when the chips are down, I'm higher on the food chain than you are, seeing as how I'm the Princess, and all. And if I say you have to do something, you have to do it without question, don't you?"

"No 'buts'. As Princess of the Moon Kingdom, Guardian of the Silver Crystal, and your boss, I order you to stay here in the hospital until you feel better." Willow put on her resolve face, making sure Anya knew in no uncertain terms that she was being serious.

"Good," Willow said. "Now that we've got that over and done with, what's everyone going to do now?"

"I guess I should go home," Buffy replied. "I've got a date with Riley tonight, and I said I'd cook dinner for him."

"Make sure to have 911 on Speed Dial," Anya quipped. Buffy looked at her as if to respond, then thought better of it and moved to leave. Willow looked at Cordelia.

"Sure." Willow moved to follow Buffy out the door as Cordelia sat down beside Anya and took one of her hands into her own.

Anya nodded, and a moment later, Cordelia got up and followed the others out the door, leaving Anya alone in the room. Sighing, she settled herself into a comfortable position and closed her eyes to take a nap.

Three seconds later, she heard the faint string of piano music. Thinking that someone had walked into the room to turn on the radio, she opened her eyes to find a figure clad in silver and white sitting in one of the chairs beside her. Someone that looked very familiar to her.

Before she could move, the stranger stood up and looked down at her. "If I wanted you dead, you already would be. I wouldn't waste my time doing this if I wanted you dead."

"What is it that you want?" Anya asked, wondering why it was that this person she had bested would waste time talking to her.

"The same as you," the stranger responded, moving to the foot of the bed. Anya tensed up, expecting at any moment for him to pull a surprise out of the air.

Watching her former friends leave the hospital from atop the building's roof, Fred, clad in her Dark Mercury uniform, allowed a self satisfied smirk to cross her face. How easy it would be for her to pick each of them off one by one, especially the one remaining inside, most likely Anya due to her medical condition.

It wouldn't be that much of a challenge for her to deal with them in this way, but it was her Queen's wish that each of them suffer. How it happened was of no consequence. And in any event, she wasn't exactly sure as if she terribly cared one way or the other, either.

She got to her feet and turned around to enter the building and follow them, only to stop as she found her path blocked by someone standing near the door. Raising her sword, she pointed it at the newcomer. "Who are you?"

The newcomer was a young girl with straight dark hair reaching down to her shoulders, framing an innocent oval face with intense, yet childlike blue eyes. She appeared to be dressed in a yellow with purple trim skirt and Japanese styled sailor suit leotard top with bows (yellow bow on chest, purple bow on small of the back), fur lined white gloves and purple boots and a tiara with an inset jewel on her forehead; all the markings of a Sailor Soldier. This surprised Fred, as whoever this person was wasn't one of her former friends.

The girl raised an arm, an arm which held a weapon in the style of Sailor Moon's Moonlight Stick, and smiled. "Someone who can easily defeat you, Mercury."

Fred chuckled. "Really." Bringing her own weapon up to counter the action of the young girl, she smiled, delighted at being offered a challenge, yet not entirely abandoning the pretence that this may in fact be more difficult than it appeared. "I would like to see you try."

The girl didn't look as if she was concerned about what she had just heard. In fact, she simply took up a similar battle stance, almost as if she was daring Fred to carry out on the threat. The smile on Fred's face widened at the thought of killing this interloper. How dare she interfere? Who was she…?

Suddenly a spark flashed within her mind, the accompanying headache bringing her intense pain. Grimacing, Fred collapsed to the ground on one knee and looked up to find the young girl smiling back at her. "I knew it."

"What are you talking about?" Fred spat through her teeth, trying desperately to right herself and deliver a killing blow, shocked that this young girl, seemingly without any apparent effort at all, had bested her so easily.

"When Sailor Moon used the powers of the Silver Crystal, I had feared that the enemy's hold over you wouldn't have wavered," the girl answered. "Having been exposed to them so recently, I thought the grip of the enemy on you may have been unbreakable. But I was wrong. The spell on you has been weakened. You'll be one of us again soon enough."

That comment brought forth a furor within Fred, which granted her the strength to rise and make her way towards the girl, sword in hand and prepared to split her in half. "I'll never be one of you!" As she closed in on the girl, however, she raised her weapon, casting a blinding light towards Fred.

Instinctively, Fred stopped in her advance, raising an arm to shield her eyes. The light faded after a few moments, and she brought her hand down and blinked her eyes, looking around to find the one who had done this, only to find that the young girl had taken advantage of her momentary distraction and had disappeared.

Then, from out of nowhere, her voice rang in her ears. "Mercury, don't worry. Soon you'll be coming home."

"Never!" Fred shouted the word to the sky as she reverted from her Soldier form back to her civilian form. Collapsing to her knees, she tried to steady her breathing, trying to figure out what was going on. That girl's words, combined with that momentary flash of pain, were bringing about new feelings and memories within her. What had happened to her?

She did not know. She did know, however, that regardless of what it was, it had shaken her a great deal. She needed to return to her Queen for answers.

Getting up, Fred walked towards the door, confident that the next time she faced her former friends, and especially this new player in the game, it would be for the final time.

Watching some distance away, the young girl smiled as Fred opened the door and disappeared, assured that what had just happened meant that she would immediately return to the enemy's stronghold, wherever that was. Things would be right again soon, she realized. All she had to do was make sure that Willow didn't come to harm in the meanwhile.

Leaping to the ground below, she began to walk down the street, humming tunelessly to herself. She paused and let out a deep breath, her eyes glancing upward…to find the large cat ears sticking out of her head. Frowning, she quickly looked to her backside, seeing the tail sticking out from underneath her skirt.

Turning around, she let out a sigh. "Unbelievable!" She began to skip down the street once again, a light encompassing her body after only a few steps. It grew and shrunk after several moments.

And when it faded, where there had once been a girl, there was now a black cat with an all too familiar crescent moon on its forehead. And as it continued on down the street, it giggled in the same voice as the young girl.

"I hardly believe you have the future's best interests at heart. And I have an even harder time believing you want to make sure that no harm comes to the people of this world."

"There was a time when that was indeed true," Spike admitted, giving the young woman a casual glance. Despite what she had done to him before and what she and her friends had done since then, it was difficult to maintain the feelings of hatred he felt towards her in the wake of Faith's hold on him becoming as shaken as it had. She was a capable warrior and, at least in one way, had the same goals. That was why he had chosen to risk seeking her out. Of the four remaining Soldiers, she was the only one who could possibly understand the necessity of what needed to be done. "But let's just say that since our last encounter, I've had a…change of heart."

Anya frowned in puzzlement before she picked up on the clue in his words, realization flooding into her as their meaning hit home. "You…you were manipulated into serving the one we're sworn to defeat. And the Crystal…when its power was unleashed, it loosened the hold she had on you."

Anya nodded in understanding, the memory of Luna and Artemis' own machinations against her and the others still fresh in her mind. She understood why they had done so, but that didn't mean that she found their behavior acceptable. And if the enemy had been likewise manipulating her own troops, then perhaps there was a way they could attack her. "And now you seek to atone for your past mistake by ensuring that the transgressions of the past life do not happen again?"

"I seek nothing but to ensure the continuation of the Mistress' life," Spike replied.

"Who are you…?" Anya asked, before her mind caught up with the rest of her and she realized who it was that Spike was talking about. "Tara."

"Yes. You know as well as I do that she and the Princess were responsible for what happened in the past, and we have an opportunity to make sure that it does not happen again." Spike turned to Anya. "You realize the necessity of this, don't you?"

Anya fell silent once again, shivering slightly in her reluctance to admit to herself the truth of what she was hearing. Even though she truly believed that was the only course of action available to her, she had begun to doubt whether or not she would be strong enough to carry out what must be done. Putting aside for the moment the unmistakable truth of her medical condition, there was the unavoidable fact that she couldn't convince either Buffy or Cordelia that keeping Willow and Tara apart was necessary for the success of their mission.

But now that she knew there was someone out there who believed as she did, could she blithely ignore his help for the sake of her friendship with Willow and the others, especially since he was supposedly on the opposite side? Regardless of what may have happened to change his viewpoint, the fact of the matter was that this wasn't someone she would trust her own life to, let alone those who, despite her best efforts, most likely still looked at her with concern.

Realizing that there was only one thing she could say, she asked, "How can I be assured of your sincerity?"

"You can't," Spike replied flatly as he looked out the window at the mid afternoon hustle and bustle outside the hospital. "The longer they're allowed to continue being together, the more likely the Earth's destruction is assured. And we may not have much time. Our leader has learned from past mistakes and has implemented a plan that, while taking more time to carry out than she would like, will all but certainly result in all of our deaths. I'm offering you my help in ensuring that doesn't happen." He turned to look at Anya one last time. "Don't take too long to make your choice."

Bringing his arm up, he flourished his cape and disappeared. Anya looked at the spot where he had been for several more moments before she laid back down on the bed and let out a sigh. Willow had told her to relax, but after that conversation, that was the last thing she would be able to do.

Willow walked down the street, at a loss as to what to do. She didn't really want to go back to school; thanks to Cordelia, she had been given a free pass to spend the rest of the day however she wanted. And though she wouldn't normally have taken advantage of that opportunity (being as very seldom naughty as she was), it was understandable that, having to pretend to be normal for the last few months, she very much wanted to not do that right now.

"Guess that rules out going home," she thought. "If Mom were to find out I had skipped class, she'd probably go off on a tangent and try to lump my behavior into some kind of classification of teenage rebellion and justify my behavior that way." She sighed. "I guess I could go to the bookstore for a while. Or maybe I could wait until school gets out and give Amy a call. She's been doing well since the attack…No. If I do that, Harmony will find a way to get involved."

Though Willow held no ill will towards her, she had come to learn that Harmony wasn't exactly the sort of person that fit in anywhere, and that it wouldn't do her all that good to be seen with her in public. For a moment, Willow wondered why she had thought that, since Harmony hadn't exactly done anything to her that warranted that sort of classification.

"Must be because of how I feel about Anya," Willow reasoned. "I'm so worked up over her that I'm starting to see things that don't exist. Harmony's…well, she may be strange, but she's a nice girl. She doesn't deserve my hatred. Still, I don't exactly want to do anything with her…or Amy, for that matter…"

Willow's train of thought came to a halt as she realized that the only thing she really wanted to do at that moment was to go see Tara. If she was really as worked up over nothing as she believed she was, then maybe spending time with her girlfriend would make things better.

After all, in one way or another, Tara always looked out for her whenever things went wrong.

A sudden impact against her back caused her snap out of her internal ruminations and turn on her heel to find out what had happened. Standing several feet down the street was a young girl of about fourteen years old wearing a purple top trimmed at the arms with yellow, a matching yellow skirt and white boots. The girl shook her head in disappointment. "That's no good. If I had been an enemy, you'd be begging for your life right about now."

Willow stood dumbfounded, at a loss to produce an adequate response. After several more moments of silence, the girl made her way forward. "It doesn't matter. Now's not the time for sadness. I've got good news. The spell the enemy placed on Fred is weakening. She'll be back to normal in a few days."

Willow's concern and surprise soon gave way to a torrent of happy thoughts. The thought of Fred being one of them again was enough to shake her out of her bad mood. Still, the fact that the news was coming from a stranger gave her cause to be concerned. "That's good and all, but how do you know that?"

The girl placed her hands on her hips and smiled broadly. "I'm sure you'll be surprised to find this out, but…"

A noise from behind her startled Willow, and she turned to find an older man with a dog standing nearby. The dog was barking and trying to chase after something, the man struggling in vain to keep his grip on the leash. "Bad Sparky! That's enough!"

Another noise brought Willow around, where she was surprised to find the girl screaming at the top of her lungs and tearing a path down the opposite end of the street. Willow watched her go in silence, wondering what exactly had just happened.

Cordelia had only made it two blocks from the hospital before she broke down and started to cry, much to the surprise of everyone who came by her. She had managed to keep herself under control while Willow and Buffy were around, but without their presence, the need for her to keep her emotions under control lessened, and she found herself completely overwhelmed .by the grief she felt over Anya's condition and her stubborn refusal to take the chance to save her life. She hadn't felt this much in pain since she had fallen onto a rebar when she was five while playing around near the pool her father had hired a construction team to put together for her sixth birthday.

She still bore the scars from the accident, and at the time, she had thought that there wasn't anything more painful she could go through, but the past few hours had certainly gone out of their way to prove her wrong. She never really admitted it to the others, but she had come to be quite fond of Anya, despite the rather bristly attitude that she had towards them all in the early days. But once the truth of her illness had come out, there was a marked change in the way that they had responded around her.

But it had been different for her. Anya had from the first moment singled her out, especially since her departure from the group. And ever since she had come back, the two of them had their relationship go from the simple working partnership required by their mission to a deeper and more emotionally invested one. This was what made Cordelia wonder why Anya wouldn't take the option to save her life. Even if what she had said was true, and the chances of success were low to nonexistent, it was still a better thing to do than sitting around waiting to die.

A sudden headache brought her head around to look behind her, blinking away the tears that clouded her eyes. Ever since her memories of the past had been fully awakened, she hadn't had the visions that had plagued her throughout childhood that much, only getting the occasional flash of pain whenever something was out of the ordinary. Looking around, she soon found what could be the only source of her distress: a young girl hiding among the bushes of the nearby park. Getting out of her hiding place, she made her way towards Cordelia, a bright smile on her face.

"Very good, Sailor Mars. I'm glad to see that you've still got a strong sense of telling whether or not something is wrong."

Cordelia immediately went on the defensive, wondering how this girl could have figured out her secret identity. "What the…Who are you?"

The girl's smile widened. "Well, since you asked, I guess I have to tell you. Actually, you might find this a little hard to believe, but my true identity is…"

Just then, a noise erupted from a nearby tree. Both Cordelia and the girl turned their attention to it to find a bird perched on the branch of a nearby tree. Cordelia dismissed it almost immediately and looked back at the girl, only to find her attention riveted to the bird. After a moment, she brought her head back to look at Cordelia, though Cordelia could plainly see that she was making an effort to do so.

Cordelia watched as the girl struggled to maintain her attention, but watched as she looked back at the bird and began hopping on her feet. And then, without any warning, sped off in a dash towards the tree and began to climb it, obviously intent on going to capture the bird. Cordelia stood dumbfounded as the bird flew off, the girl adamantly pursuing it down the street.

Buffy stood over the oven, hands desperately moving across it in an attempt to turn the disaster before her into some sort of semblance of a meal. She had never been all that great a cook, and Lord only knew what had possessed her to tell Riley that she would make dinner for him on the one month anniversary of their first date.

And it also bothered her why she was going to all this trouble in the first place. Her relationship with Parker had been a disaster on all fronts; no matter what she had done, she had always felt as if there was nothing she could do to please him. And then to find out that he was using her as a means to get back at his former girlfriend…

It had been too much for her to deal with, and she had spent the time since then telling herself that she would always be alone. It certainly didn't help that she actually was alone in life, her parents having been killed in a plane crash when she was younger, an incident that had been brought back to her thanks to Cordelia reminding her about it, something that really rubbed her the wrong way.

Since her parent's death, Buffy had traveled from place to place, living off a small trust her parents had set up for her in case she had needed the money, and taking the odd job wherever she could in order to cover the rest. It hadn't been until coming to Sunnydale that she had begun to feel as if she had belonged somewhere. Even with her duty as a Sailor Soldier, she had managed to find friends, a stable home life, and even a potential boyfriend. It was that last thing that made Buffy worry the most. She knew that because of her life as a Soldier and the duty she had towards the past life, she could never allow herself to get close to anyone.

"So why am I allowing myself to continue this relationship?" Buffy asked, shaking her head. "I can't let myself hurt anyone else. Nothing in this world is worth that."

Keeping her eye on the pots and pans before her, she reached out with one hand to try and grab the pepper. "Come on, where is it?"

"Thanks," Buffy said, moving to apply a small dab of the seasoning to the sauce she was preparing, only to suddenly realize that there was nobody here but herself. Turning quickly, she saw a young girl with straight dark hair wearing a purple top leaning against the counter, her round face showing her approval of what she was witnessing.

"Very good, Buffy. I'm glad to see you're learning a new skill. That's a true trait of a Sailor Soldier."

Buffy's eyes widened in surprise. Very few things frightened her, but this rattled her nerves in such a way that she couldn't help but show fear. "A…a ghost?"

Before the girl could continue, Buffy felt the pepper shaker slip from her grip and shatter on the ground below, scattering pepper everywhere. She waved her hand in an attempt to clear the air as she heard the girl speak again.

The air cleared several seconds later, and Buffy looked around the room, finding no sign of the intruder. She didn't know who that girl was, but something was definitely wrong, that was for sure. She had to let the others know.

"Yeah," Buffy replied. "And I've got to tell you, it's one of the weirdest things I've ever seen."

"Tell me about it," Cordelia responded, the memory of the girl's antics she had witnessed still fresh in her mind. "I doubt she's an enemy, though. They wouldn't be dumb enough to send anyone that obvious after us."

"Yeah," Buffy said. "But it's definitely something we should get together to discuss."

"No," Cordelia said with a bit more force than she meant to. "I mean, no. I'll be in a far better position to do that, given that I don't go to school with you guys."

Fred entered the throne room and made her way up towards Faith, kneeling once she was halfway up out of respect for her Queen. She was greatly troubled by her encounter with the strange Sailor Soldier, and the strange visions and dreams she had been getting since then, and if there was anyone who could help her make sense of things, it was her.

"Yes, my Queen," Fred answered, best to get that out of the way first. "I have successfully integrated myself into a position whereby the Soldiers are becoming unnerved at seeing me interact with their friends. I do believe I have allowed your shadow to successfully work her way into Sailor Moon's confidence and destroy her."

Faith smiled at that, glad that, with everything going to pieces around her, something was going right. Her jovial mood, however, was soon broken as Mercury spoke once more.

Fred struggled to find the right words. "I find myself…remembering things. Things about…about my former life. They haunt me in my waking moments and plague me when I close my eyes. And I find myself…concerned for the safety of my former friends. I…I think…I think that I do not wish them to come to harm…"

Fred flinched as Faith got to her feet, a snarl on her face. "I have heard enough! Do not concern yourself with the past! The only thing important now is the future. And your place in that future is by my side, working against your friends to bring about the return of Queen Metallia. Now be gone from my sight before I consider your continued presence superfluous to those plans."

Fred bowed slightly to Faith and turned to leave, very much concerned about what had just taken place. Clearly Faith had been upset enough by her revelation to threaten her life, not exactly a smart thing for her to do given her lack of allies at this time. But she was loyal to the cause, not at all worthy of being treated that way.

But Fred realized one thing rather quickly: she was only loyal to Faith and her cause because she had made her that way. And unlike the others who served her, she was not overtly crucial to the success of her goals. If Faith were to decide that it was not in her best interests to keep her around…

Fred shook her head. She would find a way to banish these thoughts from her mind, if for no other reason than to see her former friends fall by her hand. If she and Faith had one thing in common, it was the wish to see the existence of the other Soldiers come to an end.

"There must be something you can do. My hold on her is weakening. Given the right motivation, she will be lost to us."

"There is nothing that can be done to undo the powers of the Mystical Silver Crystal. You know this well, Faith. She is a liability to us. You must take her life."

Faith did not like the idea of sacrificing Mercury at this point in time. True, in the long run, she was as much a danger to her as Metallia said she was. But at present, when her own warriors' loyalty was in question, Mercury was the one person she could count on to ensure the death of the Soldiers. "I cannot do this now. She must remain mine for some time more."

"Then so be it, Faith. But be warned. I sense that unless she is dealt with soon, she will return to her former self."

"Then I must make sure that she falls before then," Faith thought to herself. And there was only one way she could do this without making it obvious. Mercury very much wanted to face Sailor Moon in one on one combat, and from what Mercury had told her, Sailor Moon would not be so willing to sacrifice her former friend if there was a hope of rescuing her.

Thus was an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. She would order Mercury to fight Sailor Moon to the death. If she succeeded, the spell would no doubt be broken and she would be so overcome with grief at the act that she would no doubt take her life. If, on the other hand, she were left with no other choice but to kill her friend, Sailor Moon would be so overcome with grief herself that she would end up taking her life, or at the very least, ceasing to cause any problems for her any longer. And with her incapacitated, the other Soldiers would fall as well.

Faith smiled. Once again, she had snatched a victory from certain defeat. There was but one question to consider: which of those scenarios she would enjoy the most.

Fred walked down the passageway, her footfalls echoing around her. She had just come from Faith's throne room where she had been granted the mission she had been longing for ever since she was told to antagonize her former friends. She would face Sailor Moon in one-on-one combat and strike her down, taking from her that which she protected and giving it to the one who would wipe the world clean of the presence of all who stood in their way.

So why could she find no pleasure in that? Why did it feel, even on the most basic of levels, completely contrary to that which she suspected was true? And why was she dreading having to do that which had to be done?

Fred's face contorted into one of confusion and disgust. She knew that her mind had been manipulated by Faith, and that her usefulness to her cause lasted only as long as that tampering held, but even that did not explain why this all felt so wrong. It wasn't as if Faith had made her feel so differently about her friends; the ill will and distrust she had towards them having always been present in her person, and yet…

And yet, even then, they were very serious doubts as to whether or not what she had believed was in fact true. Even after they had all fractured in the wake of agreeing on a solution to their problems, Willow and Buffy had always tried to be friendly towards her, making her feel as if she really belonged to them. Nobody else would have tried to do that, and since they at least tried, did that mean they were truly deserving of being treated with scorn?

The conflicting feelings she felt about the whole situation nauseated Fred. She didn't want to remember her former friends like that. It was a lie. It had to be. Then again, any lie, told as often as that one was, would immediately be seen as true to those who wanted to see it that way, regardless of whether or not it actually was. Was that what she had done here? Had she allowed this to happen to her simply because that was the only possible explanation?

Closing her eyes, Fred struggled to suppress those thoughts. They were a cloud that would only distract her from what needed to be done.

Tomorrow. At the moment, she was tired, and needed to rest. She would bring about Sailor Moon's death once she was at full strength.

Out of sight nearby, Angelus watched as Mercury made her way down the corridor, a slight hesitancy in her step. Her state of mind truly was not the main concern on his mind; truthfully, he cared not for her well being. He had not before when he had tried to use her as an instrument of destruction, and he did not now that she was Faith's weapon of choice against the Soldiers.

But it was becoming increasingly more obvious that, like he himself, the hold Faith had on her was becoming weaker, and with that threat looming over her, Faith sought to use her now in the only way that was left which was still beneficial to her: sending her against Sailor Moon in the hope that doing so would lead to their mutual destruction.

Smirking, Angelus retreated back down the path he had come. How easy it would be to deny Faith that which she most wanted. Easy, and more importantly, fun.

Unseen by Angelus or Mercury, Xander watched as they both made their retreat from Faith's throne room. The behavior of the two of them, along with Spike and Oz, deeply disturbed him. Something had happened between them all, bad enough that Faith no longer considered them worthy enough of being by her side. He didn't know why this was so, but what he did know was that he had fallen out of favor with his Queen, and he would do whatever he thought was necessary in order to regain his standing.

Well, for all appearances, he had just been granted his opportunity. He would have to watch both of them and make sure they didn't betray their rightful masters.

Willow had waited in front of Tara's door for nearly ten minutes before, concerned for her girlfriend's safety, she retrieved the emergency key from underneath the doormat and entered the house, oblivious to whatever danger awaited her inside.

There didn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary, but she did hear a hauntingly beautiful melody that immediately struck her as all too familiar to her despite the fact that she had never heard it before. Willow closed the door and followed the music all the way to Tara's bedroom, where she found the blonde sitting cross legged in front of a star shaped locket that appeared to be the source of the music.

Jumping slightly at the sound of Willow's voice, Tara moved to close the locket and turned to look at the redhead. "Willow. I'm sorry. I…I didn't…I didn't hear you knock."

"I kinda figured that," Willow responded, making sure her voice didn't have any anger in it so as to give Tara the wrong message. Looking at the locket, she added, "It's beautiful."

"It's an old family heirloom," Tara explained, picking up the locket and holding it out to Willow. "It's one of the few things from my past that I've managed to hold onto all of these years. I've always thought…that it could help me uncover the secrets of my past."

"Well," Willow began. "When I came in, and by the way, you're going to need to find a new place to hide the emergency key, I heard the music that was coming from it, and I felt something…familiar about it. And if I think it's familiar having never heard it before, then it might have something to do with our past lives that needs to be revealed."

"Won't know until we try," Willow replied, bringing out a finger and tentatively brushing against the locket. The moment she did so, white lights exploded from behind her eyes, engulfing her essence in the blinding flash akin of an exploding star.

Willow's vision cleared within moments, but the sight that greeted her was not that of Tara's bedroom. Instead, it was of a vast rocky surface that was currently cloaked in the semidarkness of night. She looked up to find a sight that surprised her. Hanging in the distance was the perfect blue marble that was the Earth. Seeing that there could only mean one thing.

Spinning around, Willow saw that she was standing before the ruins of what appeared to have once been the courtyard leading to a majestic palace, an opulent building rendered destroyed by some unimaginable disaster. Common sense soon made itself evident in her mind, as she became aware of how impossible it was for her to be here seeing all of this.

Then she looked down at her body to find it not clad in the jeans, shirt and sneakers combo that she had worn to school that day, but an exquisitely designed white dress that she had only seen in wedding catalogues. Reaching to her forehead, she was not surprised to find embedded there a mark that was no doubt a crescent moon.

Turning at the sound of her name, Willow found Tara making her way towards her. Only this wasn't the Tara that she knew. Clad in medieval looking armor, a sword sheathed to her side, her hair elaborately done up in braids, this was the Tara that she had come to know from her dreams; Tara as she had been in the past.

Tara's lips quirked ever so slightly as she brought up a hand. "Or should I say, Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom."

Willow took Tara's hand, heart thrumming with pleasure at the touch of the blonde's skin against her own. Even in this strange place, it still felt right for them to be together. But the overall weirdness of what had just happened permeated her, making her unable to fully enjoy it. "But how…I don't understand how all of this could have happened."

Willow and Tara brought their heads around to look at the ruins of the palace, watching as a figure coalesced into being some distance away and made its way towards them. She wore the same white dress as Willow, her long blonde hair flowing freely about her. She was a vision of beauty the likes of which neither Willow nor Tara had seen before; the perfect appearance of an angel.

The newcomer smiled, though it was a smile that belied the obvious pain, as evident in her eyes, she tried to keep hidden. "I'm not surprised you don't remember me, Willow. The pain of what happened that day was such that I was almost glad that you would have no memory of me. I couldn't bear to have you remember what took place."

Willow's unease at the situation didn't fade upon hearing this, especially since she hadn't given her any clear answer. But despite her confusion, the pieces managed to find themselves sliding into place as her brain worked frantically to find an explanation as to who this person was. And only one came to mind readily that made sense.

The pain in Serenity's face faded, making her smile seem more genuinely happy. "That's one quality I always loved about you, Willow. You always had the ability to absorb new facts and data, trying to figure out the most possible explanation out of so little information. Even reborn in the future with no memory of your past, I suspected that it wouldn't take you long to recover that part of yourself." She turned to Tara. "And neither would your desire to be with Endymion. I knew you were destined to be together no matter what life threw in your path. I'm glad that you were able to find one another."

Willow's unease at the situation was beginning to grow, especially in light of the fact that it was becoming all but impossible for her to look at this person and call her "mother", and equally impossible that she could be here now after all this time. Seeing her confusion, Queen Serenity spread her arms.

"What you see before you is the last remnants of the Moon Kingdom. Within these ruins is a computer upon which I imprinted my spirit, to await the day when you would find one another and make your way here."

"So…you're my mother?" Willow asked. "I mean, you're not real, but you're here, so you have to be real, but that shouldn't be possible, cause that sort of thing only happens in science fiction movies and bad fan fiction crossover stories…"

"I am you mother, Willow," Serenity interrupted, her voice calm. "And I assure you that, though I am long departed from the land of the living, I continue to exist as long as the computer powering me functions." The look on her face dropped slightly. "And as long as you continue to hold a special place for me in your heart."

Willow didn't know was to say; nothing coming to mind that seemed even vaguely appropriate. Thankfully, Tara was there to cover her lapse. "I don't wish to intrude, Queen Serenity, but is there a reason that we have been brought here?"

"There is, Endymion," Serenity replied, and Willow noticed that Tara felt visibly uncomfortable at being referred to by that name. "The locket that you possessed is indeed a family heirloom, but it is not of your reincarnated family, but of my own. It belonged to my daughter, who had given it to you as a token of the love the two of you share. It came into your possession in the future so that it could bring the both of you together and thus here to this place."

"But why?" Willow asked, finding her voice. She watched as Serenity's expression became somber, and noticed that her body was radiating the bright light that she had seen when she had touched the locket. Before she knew it, she and Tara were once again engulfed in its embrace.

The light faded once again within moments, and Willow was left to seriously wonder as to the state of her eyes after having been exposed to repeated bursts of high intensity light. Another concern became apparent rather quickly when she saw that she was standing outside the Palace, not in the ruined state it had been in, but fully restored and opulently decorated, the sound of running water coming from the nearby fountains.

Queen Serenity's voice rang in her ears. "I'm sure that Luna and Artemis told you everything about the Silver Millennium, when the people of the Moon watched over the Earth, helping the people who lived there in their development and ridding their world of negative influence."

A figure emerged from the palace to stand on the balcony above her, and Willow looked up to see who it was. Her mouth slacked open slightly as she recognized the person; she was several years older, her body more fully developed into womanhood, and she composed herself more regally than she thought possible, but there was no mistake about it. She was looking into the face of her former self, Princess Serenity.

Willow suddenly found herself on the balcony, watching as her other self – there was no other way to call the person she saw – made her way back inside the palace and to the table situated at one corner of the room. Willow focused her attention there and saw…

Her eyes widened in surprised as she recognized the woman sitting there. She wore a blue dress and her hair was done up in a more elaborate style than she would normally consider, but there was no mistaking it. She was Fred as she had once been. The person Luna had said she was in the past life. Princess Mercury.

Fred – Mercury – looked at Serenity with an expression that Willow had seen her mother, or more correctly, the woman she had thought was her mother, give her countless times before. "Princess, you may have a mastery of the scholarly arts, but that does not mean that you should be allowed to have those skills atrophy. You cannot afford to become lax in your studies. You have a great destiny ahead of you, and you need to be prepared to handle it."

"I know," Serenity sighed, her boredom and disinterest readily evident. Willow could sympathize, hearing once again how special she was and how she had a destiny to fulfill even back then. Mercury, meanwhile, didn't need to think much about the reason for Serenity's disinterest.

"You know who," Mercury replied curtly. "The Princess from Earth." Serenity didn't respond to that accusation, but her silence was all the answer Mercury needed to hear. "Princess, you should know better than that. Contact between your people and the people of Earth is expressly forbidden per your mother's own decree. Venus has told us how many times she has caught you sneaking off to Earth to be with her, and that's only the times she's aware of. We Soldiers have sworn to protect you and your mother from all threats to the Kingdom, and try as we might, we cannot do so at all times. How long do you think you can continue to defy us by putting yourself in danger this way?"

"You don't understand, Mercury," Serenity replied as she got to her feet, Willow noticing that her voice had taken on a more petulant and argumentative tone. "None of you could. You, Mars, Jupiter and Venus have pledged yourselves to protect me and the Moon Kingdom from outside threats, and it is that duty which drives your lives. And as for my mother, as ruler of the Moon Kingdom, she has to think about the needs and desires of countless people, never allowing herself the simple pleasure of knowing what it means to know the love of another person. None of you could possibly hope to understand why I love Endymion."

Willow watched as Serenity made her way from the room, expecting Mercury to follow her. Instead, she watched in surprise as she slumped in the chair she was sitting in and closed her eyes, head hanging loosely against her chest. "But I do, Princess. All the Soldiers do. We love you as we would a sister. We love your mother as we would our own progenitors. We only want what's best for you. That's why we do this. We do it because we love you."

Mercury began to weep, convinced that she was alone in the room. Willow made her way over to her and, forgetting the very real fact of her intangibility, brought a hand up to Mercury's cheek and, mere millimeters from actually touching it, mimed the motion of brushing it against it, drying her tears.

Tara stood in the middle of an expanse of parkland, slightly disoriented at the shift in location she had just undergone. What became more important to her after the disorientation passed was the fact that she was hearing the sounds of combat somewhere nearby. Forgetting for the moment that she would be incapable of doing anything to help, she made her way over to the fight as quickly as she could, arriving there after several moments to witness a surprising confrontation.

Two beings were locked in combat, swords clashing against one another as they struggled to remain balanced in the rain slicked ground. Tara recognized them immediately. One of them was Angelus, the leader of the enemy's chosen warriors whom she and Willow had faced many times. The other was she herself, or rather, she as she had been during this time. The scenario playing out before her deeply troubled Tara. Had they been enemies in the past as well?

Tara's train of thought was interrupted as she saw herself…or Endymion…or whoever it was get knocked off her feet, Angelus taking advantage of her slip by bringing the tip of his blade against her chest. She stiffened, knowing that she was helpless to do anything but watch. Suddenly Angelus smiled and sheathed his sword, offering Endymion a hand.

Endymion took the offered hand and got to her feet, the quirky half- smile on her face an exact match for Tara's own. "Obviously not better enough to protect myself in this one instance, it appears. If I were fighting anyone but the leader of my personal guard, I'd probably end up being sliced in two."

"That's what troubles me, Mistress," Angelus replied, obvious concern in his voice. "I can't understand why you insist to develop your skills. The Shitennou are more than capable of protecting you from any threat against your life."

"Who said I needed protection?" Endymion responded, Tara recognizing in the words the stubborn independence that was much a part of her character now as it obviously had been then.

"No," Endymion answered. "It's just…I can't depend on you and the others all the time. I have to learn to defend myself. There are situations I can't expect to have your support."

Tara turned at the sound of the voice, Angelus and Endymion doing likewise, to find a figure clad in white making his way towards them from the nearby palace. Tara immediately recognized who it was, and was beginning to wonder why two of the enemy were here at this place with the person she had once been. Endymion had mentioned that they were her "personal guard", which certainly put Spike's actions towards her in a more prominent light.

Angelus turned towards Endymion, his expression darkening. "Is that the reason you want to sharpen your skills? For the day when our people become distrustful enough of the people of the Moon to attack them and you betray us to fight on their side?"

"It won't come to that," Endymion answered, Tara noticing in her tone that she was as unconvinced at that as the others obviously were. And they were all obviously right in that regard. This would not be taking place now if they had been wrong.

Angelus turned to look at Xander. The hopeful idealism in the youngest member of the Shitennou wasn't surprising, but wasn't something that allowed one to look at the bigger picture. "Love is capable of blinding anyone to the truth of what is going on around them. We all know that it won't be long before their affair becomes known amongst the majority of our people, and they rise up against the Moon Kingdom because of their hypocrisy. And when that time comes, can you honestly believe that she would fight on our side?"

"You seem certain of that," Oz spoke up then. "She's been nothing but loyal to the kingdom of Elysion. I cannot believe she would side with the enemy."

"But she does not spend much of her time here anymore," Spike countered. "We have often found her in the company of Serenity, and those are only the times that we are aware of. Who knows how many times she has snuck off without our knowledge to be with her?"

"She would do anything to protect her," Angelus confirmed. "And so we must be certain that she doesn't have the opportunity to betray us."

A sound from across the room caused the four Shitennou to turn to the nearby archway, where a stunningly beautiful woman stood. She wore a purple dress and a yellow headpiece from which her brunette hair flowed. Her figure suggested a frailty to her being, but looks could be deceiving, as evident by the feral gleam in her eyes and the smile on her full lips.

"We have to be in agreement about this. This requires consensus among us, otherwise there will be difficulties."

Willow stood as she watched Anya, or rather, Princess Venus, talk to the other Soldiers about what to do about Serenity's delinquent behavior. She found it difficult not to sympathize with their position, finding her former self to be rather bratty. She couldn't believe she had been like that, being very seldom naughty as she was.

"This is different, Mars. Queen Serenity is likely to be very displeased with us when she learns of her daughter's activities. We have managed to convince ourselves for the longest time that we did as much as we could to prevent this from becoming a major problem."

Venus nodded. "Yes, Jupiter. Serenity's behavior towards Mercury has proven that this has gone beyond simple infatuation. Her love for Endymion will be the death of us all if we allow it to progress further, but we have to be agreed on the decision to bring this to Queen Serenity's attention. We cannot act if someone disagrees that this is the right decision."

"I believe it is," Mercury said, Willow noting that her voice was soft and shaky. "I felt something from when we talked, a deeply horrifying beast that rested within her that threatened to come loose and attack me. I cannot begin to imagine how dangerous it would be to all of us if that beast were allowed to become unchained."

Jupiter swallowed. "Princess Serenity is one of my dearest friends, and I do not wish to go against her. However, I do feel that in this case, my friendship with her requires me to act on what I think is in her best interest, not what I think would best serve our friendship. This must be brought to the Queen's attention."

"You all know my position on this idea," Venus said as she turned to Mars. "It's down to you. What do you think we should do?"

Mars was quiet for some time before she spoke. "Like you all, I feel obliged to honor our commitment to protect the Princess. But as with Jupiter, I have a friendship with Serenity that conflicts with my feelings. I cannot think to act against her, even if it's in her best interest."

Venus didn't visibly react, but Willow could see the tension in her eyes that belied her otherwise calm exterior. It reminded her very much of the arguments and confrontations that Cordelia and Anya had gotten into. "Is that your decision?"

Mars swallowed and drew a breath. "No. We have to do this. I love Serenity as much as I would love a sister, and that is why we must do this."

Willow followed the Soldiers as they made their way to Queen Serenity's throne room. The second she entered it, Willow was instantly struck by how beautiful it looked. Very much the image of beauty and decadence that was to be expected from the official meeting room of the ruler of a vast kingdom, it certainly was a sight to behold. The irony of finding herself shocked at seeing this wasn't lost on her; at one point in her life, she had lived in this place, perhaps even been in this room.

Her attention was drawn to a column in the center of the room where, surrounded by four fountains and supported over a small pool of water by four platforms, lay a pillow upon which rested the Mystical Silver Crystal. For the briefest of moments, Willow thought about touching it, then decided against it. Even though she was intangible to what was going on, she didn't know if those same rules applied to the Crystal, and she didn't want to take too many chances.

Her attention returned to the throne as she heard Queen Serenity speak to the Soldiers, who had knelt before her in deference to her authority. "Welcome, Soldiers. It is a pleasure to see you."

"Thank you, your majesty," Venus replied. "I do wish, however, that our visit was under less distressing circumstances."

"We have…concerns about your daughter," Venus continued. "She's been consorting with Earth's Crown Princess against your explicit wishes. We have tried to dissuade her from doing so, but our best efforts have proven fruitless. We think that it is in her best interests and ours if you were to speak to her about this and convince her of the error in her ways."

Serenity got to her feet and made her way over to the Soldiers. "Rise." The Soldiers got to their feet, expecting to be reprimanded for the lax behavior. Instead, they watched as Serenity made her way over to the Crystal. "Venus, you are known as the Soldier of Love and Beauty, are you not?"

"That's the problem." Serenity turned to look at the Soldiers, her eyes reflecting the sadness she felt. "You may think that by being loyal to Serenity and pledging to protect her, you are showing your love for her. But love for someone in that manner is not true love." She made her way back to her throne. "This may surprise you, but I have known for some time about my daughter's liaison with Endymion."

The Soldiers were obviously shaken by this, Venus most of all. "But your majesty, if you have known all of this time about what your daughter has been up to, why have you not done anything about it?"

Serenity closed her eyes, and Willow noticed the tear running down her cheek. "Because in this life, there is nothing more important than the love one person has for another." Opening her eyes, she looked once more at the Soldiers. "You all know my daughter is, at best, distressed with the idea of being the next ruler of the Moon Kingdom. It is not a thought that pleases her. It could not have escaped your attention that she tends to be confrontational towards you whenever you broach the subject."

"I am aware of this as well," Serenity added. "And I have spent a lifetime watching my daughter be unhappy about life. I wish her to have something happy in her life for as long as she can have it, even if it is supposed to be forbidden for her."

"But your majesty," Mars interrupted. "You cannot be serious. The people of Earth already despise us. If they were to learn of this union, they would no doubt openly revolt against us. The cost of lives on both sides would be disastrous."

"I know," Serenity replied, her voice shaky. "But I am prepared to take that risk. And so must you. Be prepared to defend us when the inevitable occurs. If we are to die, we will die ensuring that my daughter and Endymion find happiness."

The Soldiers bowed in respect as they left the room, Willow watching in silence as they did so. She turned back to Serenity, watching as the woman broke down and began to cry.

"She knew about what we were doing, and she let us continue doing it," Willow thought. "She knew of the dangers of what we were doing, and did nothing to stop us. She wanted us to be happy." She brought her attention back to the throne as she noticed two small forms approaching it, recognizing them immediately as Luna and Artemis.

"Are you sure that this is the correct course of action, your majesty?" Luna asked. "Is your daughter's happiness really worth what is to come?"

"Yes," Serenity replied without a second's pause. She looked down at the cats. "You two have served me and my daughter well. If worst comes to worst, you must be prepared to do so one final time."

Serenity looked out at the night time sky as the Earth rose into view. "When the time comes, you will know."

Princess Serenity stood on her bedroom balcony and watched as the blue and white marble of the Earth rose over the horizon. Standing beside her, Willow likewise looked at the rising world, silently wondering what her former self was thinking at this very moment. Having seen that Serenity led a life very much like her own, Willow felt she could guess rather accurately: having been born into a life where great things were expected from her, she felt pressured and, for lack of a better descriptive term, spazztastic. It was no wonder that she snuck around her mother and her guardians to be with someone who could love her for who she was. There was no possibility of them being able to understand why.

For a moment, Willow's thoughts drifted from the comparisons between herself and Princess Serenity to thinking about her mother. She had been afraid of learning what the Queen's reaction to learning about her daughter's activities would be, and had expected her to come down on the Princess like a ton of bricks. Willow knew that would be the very reaction she would have gotten if she had done that with Sheila…after getting a literal textbook lecture about teenagers acting out in order to establish dominance over their progenitors, of course.

Instead, not only had the reaction been very subdued, but she had known all along about what was going on? Willow didn't understand why Serenity didn't take any action against her daughter. Didn't she know what she was doing by allowing their love to continue on?

She decided that the best way to find out was to ask. "You allowed us…I mean, them…I mean…well, you know. Anyway, you allowed that to continue, despite knowing what could happen?"

"I did," came Serenity's reply. "I knew that you were unhappy with your life as it was, so I decided to let you have the one thing that made you feel happy."

Willow's eyes began to water, and she closed them in a fruitless effort to contain her own emotions. "I know this might not seem like much, but…thanks. I…I don't know if I…If she…If we ever told you…now…back then, I mean…about what you did for me."

Serenity didn't respond, but Willow did hear another familiar voice. "Princess."

Serenity and Willow turned as one to find Tara – or rather, Endymion – standing in the shadows nearby. Willow remained rooted where she was while Serenity ran to envelop her beloved. "I've missed you."

Endymion returned the embrace, but Willow could tell that there was no warmth in her touch, nor was it wholeheartedly given. Something concerned her, and Serenity realized this quickly. "What's wrong?"

Endymion sighed. "Things are happening on Earth, Serenity. Terrible things. I can feel that a great evil has worked its way into my people and is spreading itself all over the planet like a cancer slowly eating away at the soul of humanity. Its bringing the natural distrust of my kind for yours to a fevered pitch, and I fear that it may only be a matter of time before they come to blows."

"And all because of our love for one another," Serenity sighed, the accusatory tone in her voice making that more a question than a statement of fact. "That is what you believe, isn't it?"

"No," Endymion relented. "But you can't expect the tensions between our two peoples to ease if they learn about us. Your mother explicitly forbade contact with the people of Earth, and my people are looking for any excuse they can get to invade and take the Silver Crystal away from you." The silence between them grew for moments more before Endymion broke it.

"It might not seem like the easiest decision for us to make, but if it can make a difference, I think we might have to consider it."

There was something about Endymion's words that gave Serenity pause. "Are you saying…you want to break up with me? That…that you want to leave me?"

Serenity couldn't believe it. "You can't possibly believe that would stop the people of Earth from attacking us. You said it yourself. They were looking for whatever reason they could get to do so. If it's not us, then it would be something else."

"It's not about what we want, Princess. It's about what's in the best interests of both our peoples. They hate your kind and everything you stand for; the knowledge of our relationship will set them off in a way that can only lead to our mutual destruction."

Serenity gripped the railing of the balcony, her face as unemotional as any Willow had ever seen. "Is that what you believe?"

Willow was struck at hearing Serenity speak in that belligerent and demanding tone towards Endymion, especially when she knew Serenity loved her almost as much as she loved Tara. That alone was troublesome enough, but what disturbed her more was the reaction Endymion showed to it. It took her a moment to reply, and when she did it was with a voice that held none of the conviction with which she had tried to dissuade Serenity mere moments before.

"You know what it is that you're suggesting, right?" Endymion asked. "What you propose will be difficult, not to mention dangerous. But if it works, we can keep it a secret. How long that will last…I don't know."

"I'd rather die with you at my side than live the rest of my life without you," Serenity replied, her tone telling Willow that it was a promise she intended to keep until her dying day.

"I know. And I'll stand by you every step of the way. I'll be with you until your dying day." The pair enveloped one another once again briefly before Serenity moved into her chambers, Willow watching in stunned silence at what had just taken place. It was disturbing for her to watch someone who was in every way, shape and form her equal behave very much in the exact opposite manner. She could never think about manipulating someone's emotions to get what she wanted the way Serenity had just done to Endymion, especially if it meant crossing her mother and her guardians, who, much like Endymion herself, wanted only what was best for her.

Even more disturbing was the continued subdued reaction that Endymion showed. The minute Serenity had raised her voice, it was as if all of the fire that she had brought to her own words had been snuffed out and leaving her unable to do little more than agree to whatever it was that Serenity wanted. Willow had a hard time believing that she could cave that easily, because that wasn't what she knew Tara would have done. Yes, they were two different people, but that didn't make watching it any easier. Willow knew that, were the situation on the other foot, and she trying to get Tara to agree to do something that was as dangerous as what Serenity and Endymion were proposing, Tara would not only let her have it, but then would walk out of the room and never come back.

Willow's attention returned to the here and now as she watched Serenity return to the balcony, an object hidden in her hands. She held them up to Endymion, and Willow recognized what it was that she held: Tara's locket.

"My most prized possession," Serenity explained. "It was a gift to me from my mother. She and the Soldiers gave it to me to show the love and loyalty they have for me. And now I give it to you for those same reasons."

Endymion took the locket and embraced Serenity once again, then moved to take Serenity's hand into her own and make her way back into the Princess' chambers, obviously to undertake some other activity. Willow stood in silence for several moments before she could feel the tug of something pulling her away, and was thankful for that as she heard Queen Serenity speak to her again.

"We all expected the end of our kingdom to come, but little did we know how close to the truth of that statement we really were."

Willow found herself standing in the windswept expanse of parkland, the chilled air of night making itself felt despite her intangibility. Or maybe it was something else that was causing her to feel at ease with the situation.

Willow spun around on her heel to find Tara standing close by. Abandoning all rational thought, she rant into Tara's arms, thankful that, at least between them, tactile stimulation remained. "Oh, Tara. You wouldn't believe where I have been…the things I have seen…"

The edge in Tara's voice concerned Willow, but not nearly as much as the cries making themselves known over the approaching wind and thunder. The shouted and vengeful cries were coming from a large gathering of individuals near a rock outcropping a few meters nearby. All of them were male, and all of them were looking at who was standing on top of those rocks, a five member group of individuals, four of whom recognized immediately as the warriors she and the others had been facing off and on for the past few months. The one in the middle, obviously the leader, was a tall woman with long brunette hair that flowed from her head, upon which was adorned a golden crown that appeared to have been weaved from a spider. She wore a figure hugging purple dress and swung a exquisitely handcrafted staff in the air in time with the chanting coming from those below.

"The people of the Moon believe themselves superior to you," the woman shouted, eliciting a roar from the crowd. "They know the pleasures of long life and eternal beauty. And now they seek to corrupt our lives once more by having one of their own become romantically involved with one of us."

It was apparently obvious to those in the crowd who the woman was talking about. Shouts of "Endymion is a traitor" began almost as soon as those words had left her lips. Those lips turned upward in a smile at the sound of the cries, which soon began to form a chant. "Yes, she is a traitor. And now is the time to show the people of the Moon the error of their ways! I say its time to let the Moon Kingdom know that if they no longer feel the need to remain respectful of their own rules, then we should not allow those rules to keep us under their thumb!" She raised her staff into the air at the same time as a lightning bolt streaked through the sky. "TO THE MOON KINGDOM! TO THE DEATH OF QUEEN SERENITY! TO THE DEATH OF HER DAUGHTER, AND TO THE DEATH OF THE TRAITOR!"

Willow and Tara looked beyond the woman to the cloud that was beginning to form behind her, obviously the source of the lightning that had just taken place. It soon became apparent, however, that this was not a cloud, as a demonic looking face appeared within it, and let loose a deep throated cackle to match the one being emanated from the woman.

And then, even as they were both pulled away from the sight, Willow and Tara knew that this pair was not only responsible for what happened in the past, but for their current troubles in the present. Almost on cue, Queen Serenity's voice rang in their ears. "Yes, Faith and Metallia are the ones responsible for your problems in the present, much like they were responsible…"

Willow and Tara found themselves on Princess Serenity's bedroom balcony, once again overlooking the Moon Kingdom. But it was not the opulent splendor it had been when Willow had been there, but was now being ravaged to the ground, with frightened women and children running as best they could to avoid being killed while others contributed to the cacophony of noise by wailing as they watched others die around them.

And then came four new voices, voices that, despite the knowledge of what was going on, gave Willow comfort.

"My friends," Willow thought. "And Princess Serenity's guardians. Even in the face of utter defeat, they don't give up."

Mercury sent forth her attacking, hoping that it would quell the fire raging on around her, but at best, it merely held it back for barely a few seconds before it raged back to its former glory. "Damn." She turned to Venus. "No chance of putting a stop to this. All we can do is keep it contained in the short term, and even that won't get us anywhere before long."

Venus cursed. "Queen Serenity should have known that this would have been the inevitable outcome of letting her daughter continue to consort with the Earth Princess."

"She did," Jupiter felt compelled to point out. "And you'll recall that she said she was prepared to take that risk, and asked us to defend the Princess when it happened. Well, it's happening. So we should do all we can do to protect the Princess."

Jupiter held her ground against Venus' retort. "Especially if it costs us our lives."

Venus gritted her teeth, turned to Mars and uncoiled the chain from around her waist. "Very well, then. Let us protect unto our dying breath the Princess of the Moon Kingdom." Then, adding silently to herself as the others moved off, "Even if she brought this down upon herself."

It was chaos incarnate, unbridled death and destruction at every corner. No matter where Willow and Tara turned to look, there was flame and carnage and horror, the stuff not even of their worst nightmares. And what made it worse was that it was all brought about because of what they had done in the past life, making their current helplessness to do anything to change it all the more unbearable. They had both seen in their nightmares Endymion face the one known as Faith and watched as she brutally took her life in front of the Princess, taking great delight in doing so.

But now they watched an even more horrid truth. Serenity rushed to her fallen love and, cradling her in her arms, began to sob her name. She then lay her down and, reaching for the dagger sheathed to her forearm, pointed the blade directly at her chest.

"I…I can't go on without you, my love. I can lose my mother. I can lose my friends, but I can't lose you. Perhaps…in the next life…we will find each other." As those last words fled her lips, Serenity plunged the dagger deep into her own chest, the suddenness of the action causing Willow to flinch and bury her face into Tara's shoulder, crying as she watched herself commit suicide. She brought her face up to see that they were on Queen Serenity's balcony, watching as she looked down to see her own daughter take her life.

"My daughter," she whispered so faintly that they could barely hear it. "My dear, sweet, innocent daughter…"

Willow and Tara, along with the Queen, turned and watched as Luna and Artemis made their way towards them. "We've just received word from the battlefield."

Serenity all but collapsed under the weight of the news. With her daughter dead, and the ones meant to protect her fallen in battle, there was nothing that could be done. The invaders would soon be here to take her own life and steal the Crystal.

Serenity's face contorted into one of abject rage as she got to her feet. "Not yet." In bold strides she made her way over to the podium where the Mystical Silver Crystal was kept, Luna and Artemis, and unseen by them all, Willow and Tara, following behind.

Serenity picked up the Crystal. "What must be done, Luna." She made her way back to the balcony, the others following her. It was halfway back when Luna realized what it was that Serenity intended to do.

"Your majesty, you can't. The energy required to do that…if you were to do that now…"

"…I would most likely die," Serenity finished. "Look around you, Luna. My daughter is dead, her lover is dead, our finest warriors have fallen, and at any moment this room will be overflowing with those whose singular goal is the death of the three of us by any means necessary and the acquisition of this." She held out the crystal to the black furred feline. "Can you honestly believe that I have anything left to live for?"

Luna didn't respond to that; she, like Willow and Tara, realizing the truth of her words. All they could do was watch as Serenity held out the Crystal to the heavens, watch in silence as the Crystal lifted off her palms to rise slowly in the air, Serenity closing her eyes as the Crystal began to radiate the light and power contained within.

With the spoken command, the building energies burst forth from the crystal, enveloping the moon in its white brilliance. A roar of anger erupted from Metallia, a shriek of denial rose from Faith…

…and bright lights exploded from behind Willow and Tara's eyes, sending the world around them into the wide expanse of nothingness.

The light receded slowly after several moments, and Willow and Tara found themselves looking once again at the shattered remains of the Moon Palace and the surrounding area, the fallen bodies of the people who lived there strewn about like confetti. Thought they had seen it in this fashion when they had first arrived, it was something different to see it like this so soon after the attack that had brought about its transformation.

It hadn't taken them long to find the bodies of the Soldiers, Willow flinching involuntarily as she took each of their broken forms in an increasingly inability to remain unemotional to it all. Finally she could take it no longer and, collapsing to her knees, began to wail at the death and destruction she had just witnessed. Knowing that it was, after a fashion, her own fault did nothing to make her feel better.

A noise brought her attention upward, where she found Queen Serenity making her way towards them, her steps stilted and her movement awkward. Feeling Tara's hand on her shoulder, Willow watched as Serenity fell against a large rock , her breathing becoming erratic, ragged and painful as Luna and Artemis, who had been following behind her, approached.

"No," Serenity replied to Luna's statement as she violently shuddered. "I merely sealed them away. To utterly remove their existence from this universe would put the lives of my daughter and everyone else in danger."

"Here, yes," Serenity admitted as she raised her hand, palm outward, showing the c

The Moonlight Densetsu Chronicles
A Dream Revealed!
The Shining Power of the Princess

by SithLordWiccan

Copyright © 2007

decepticons_4_ever@hotmail.com

The Moonlight Densetsu Chronicles A Dream Revealed! The Shining Power of the Princess

by SithLordWiccan

Copyright © 2007

decepticons_4_ever@hotmail.com

The Moonlight Densetsu Chronicles
A Dream Revealed!
The Shining Power of the Princess