Started – 25 November, 2008

Completed - pending

Last revised – 25 November, 2008

Reason – initial chapter

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By Cloud Dreamer

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From the time gates, Setsuna froze in momentary shock as the command link to the palace re-established itself on the gate control console and an image of the future restored palace appeared momentarily in the time-gates.

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As the two unknown senshi contested against Usagi for Lita's heart crystal, a 'world shattering' drew blood and for just a moment the world froze. Usagi saw the blood dripping from her forearm where she had shielded herself, but instead of breaking into tears, something different happened, something wonderful, ancient and terrible.

Usagi seemed to float upright, her injuries healed instantly as ancient magical protocols bound into the line of Serenity and her senshi activated and overwhelmed Usagi.

Haruka and Michiru had finished examining Lita's heart crystal and tossed it aside in disappointment. They were preparing to leave when Usagi's appearance caught their eyes.

"Listen, little girl," snarled Haruka, "Stay out of our way if you know what is good for you."

At these words of defiance, the final stage was activated and Usagi assumed the image of her ancestors, complete with white gown and gossamer wings. In a low voice resonant with restrained power she said, "You have defied your liege and shed her blood; your oaths are foresworn." At these words, the other two scouts fell to the ground in pain as their transformations faded. Usagi pronounced final judgment, "No longer are you senshi, never again will you or your reincarnation or heirs hold that office. Your responsibilities, your honors, your office and your powers are stripped from you as of NOW."

As she emphasized the final word, the two former scouts screamed in agony as their senshi star seeds were stripped from their souls. Usagi quietly caught the two glowing motes and placed them in her tiara for later disposition. She absently noticed that each now contained an artifact. 'Probably the gifts given to those two senshi' she mused in passing.

"NO!" screamed a panic stricken Setsuna, as she ported in to the scene of this disaster. "You can't do that!" she exclaimed, "It will destroy the future, Crystal Tokyo will never exist."

The ancient magic of the Serenity Line was still active and these words only strengthened their hold on their heir as she turned to the oldest scout.

Pluto looked into Usagi's eyes and saw only a pale reflection of the girl she knew from studying her in the time-gates. The eyes appraising her held wisdom older than even hers and power far beyond what she could ever wield. Belatedly she realized she was dealing with her worst nightmare, a fully active Serenity Avatar in defense mode.

She softly asked, "Pluto, are you also forsworn? The kami gave our people free will, have you abused your powers and defied your oaths? Have you used the time-gates to shape the future instead of guarding it as you were charged to do?"

Pluto was actually afraid to answer. She struggled but responded, "Yes my Queen, but I had no choice if our people were not to perish from this realm of existence."

The Avatar's response was almost cold, "I will withhold judgment until you can show this to me then, but understand, the axe is falling, delay my decision at your peril for only I can change its path."

The Avatar glanced around, Ami and Minako had taken care of Lita and all three were watching the proceedings with wide eyes. The Serenity avatar searched her links with the remaining senshi before turning to Pluto once more, "I have need of your services," she said, "take me to Rae at once," she said.

Setsuna hesitated but then opened a portal which closed after the two had stepped through. Behind them they left two sobbing broken women and three senshi who were not inclined to help them but hurriedly made their way to Rae's temple.

From the shadows of Rae's bedroom, the two senshi watched as Mamoru and Rae made love. Pluto's sigh of exasperation caught their attention and the two hurriedly made themselves presentable.

Angry and unthinkingly, Mamoru accused Usagi; "This is all your fault! If you had been 'nicer' to me then I wouldn't have had to go to . . ." he trailed off as his common sense caught up with his mouth.

"Rae and I are 14, almost 15;" the Avatar softly responded with none of the anger and tears the others had expected. "Are you a pedophile?" she asked, "Or do you truly care for Rae?"

Before he could answer, she asked, "Rae? Do you want him? Forever?"

Rae had been building up a head of steam but at the Avatar's question, she paused and then heatedly exclaimed, "Yes I do. I deserve him and he deserves me. You aren't good enough for him meatball head."

"Usagi," hesitantly started Mamoru only to be cut off by the Avatar.

"If you are trying to apologize, it's too late," she stated, "but I have a question for you. Shall I call the police and have you arrested as a pedophile and for statuary rape or do you care enough for Rae to be with her for the rest of your life?"

Mamoru blanched and stuttered, "Of course I care for Rae."

He got no further as the Avatar interrupted and stated, "Excellent, then by the authority that I have, your words and our magical links, I hereby declare the two of you married!"

As she said this, a brilliant flash of light erupted from the Ginzuishou, the silver imperial crystal. When it cleared, golden rings were on the ring fingers of the newlyweds and the Avatar was handing over a piece of parchment to Pluto. "Setsuna," she said, "if you would please sign this as witness, then it will be magically filed in the appropriate archives in Japan."

"But you and Mamoru were destined to be married. I've already met your daughter even!" she protested.

The Avatar shrugged as she thrust the parchment into her hands; "You met someone from a possible future. If Usagi ever does have a daughter, Mamoru will not be her father; that I promise you for I do know my heir that well."

Pluto sighed helplessly, a feeling she hadn't felt in almost 14,000 years; not since the kingdom had fallen. She glanced at the two in bed and then signed the document. After she had signed it, the parchment glowed and seemed to replicate itself several times. A copy floated to the table while the others vanished. "You are right," Setsuna said to Rae, "the two of you do deserve each other."

Before she could leave, the Avatar placed a hand on her arm, "Now we need to go to where ever Saturn is."

Pluto nodded and without a protest opened a portal to the bedside of the young girl. It was unfortunate for their foes that Kaolinite and the rest of the Witches 5 were clustered beside the young girl when the two scouts appeared. The Serenity avatar instantly appraised the situation and destroyed them almost negligently.

The Avatar studied the young girl before her. Finally she sat on the bed and pulled the weakened and frightened girl into her lap and hugged her. Stunned, Hotaru froze but then hesitantly put her arms around the girl that was radiating peace and power. As the Avatar began to rock her, Hotaru finally began to cry. When the moment was right, the Avatar softly whispered, 'Moon healing escalation', and the two were enclosed in a soft golden glow. This glow did not diminish as it normally did after being cast but instead seemed to surge in power several times as more and more of the Avatar's power was added. It finally almost doubled in strength when Usagi herself cast her power into the spell. At this final surge of power, a dark power was cast out of the young girl and she slumped into a healing sleep.

The Avatar absently stroked her head and laid her on the bed. "She will be alright now providing her father can also be set right again," declared Serenity's Avatar.

After Hotaru's father was set free of his possession and the lab destroyed, the Avatar and Pluto made their way to the gates of time. From there, Pluto showed the meteor impact and its catastrophic results on the planet. In the end Pluto sighed and admitted. "In the old days this would be so easy to fix. Destroy the meteor and all this would be averted," she said. "But I don't have access to that power," she said. "This was the best I could do," she added.

The Serenity avatar nodded in understanding but questioned, "Why was the world cleansed?"

Pluto sighed and said, "After the great freeze, there was little leeway for error, the smallest evil could have destroyed us all, so Usagi got the bright idea of 'cleansing' everybody so that we would all cooperate." She sighed, "I hated the idea but it made the difference. Without it, we had less than a three percent chance of surviving but afterwards the odds rose to over eighty percent." Pluto slumped and admitted, "I've searched for an alternate solution but nothing has shown up yet."

A soft smile greeted her when she looked into Usagi's face. As they had been talking, more and more of the young girl had surfaced. But it was still the avatar that spoke, "There is another option, one that is only now available as Usagi wouldn't have been authorized to use it at her current age and power levels."

The Avatar walked over to the gate and placed a hand on it and clearly commanded, "Gate, Serenity avatar override, connect to palace battle command center AI." A few moments later and the gates shifted to show the image of a dim and deserted complex.

A holographic image of an elderly man appeared and a disembodied voice announced, "Main battle complex AI on line. How may I serve Serenity?"

"Hello Marcus, how are you?" asked Serenity.

The image smiled and replied, "In truth, lonely and under-powered at the moment."

"Status and recommendations?" was asked.

Marcus stood a bit straighter and said; "There is a lot of un-repaired battle damage, but without authorization I can do nothing since the system is technically still in battle mode. I would estimate that battle capabilities are at about two percent or so depending on what you want done."

"Marcus," asked Pluto, "please scan for objects greater than ten tons in mass that will impact Terra within the next millennium."

The hologram arched an eyebrow but complied after Serenity nodded in agreement. "There are five," he responded, "four are negligible in their effects but the fifth and largest will destroy the biosphere," Marcus announced emotionlessly.

"Options for elimination of the largest target?" asked the Avatar

"It is possible, but with the damage I've sustained, the only option that is viable in the timeframe before impact is to launch a planetary killer and basically vaporize the object. It is overkill and only you can authorize it but only if another senshi validates the order."

The Avatar thought for a few moments before deciding to trust Marcus's analysis. "Serenity avatar override, launch planetary killer and destroy target identified."

Pluto swallowed, she hated these particular weapons, but she clearly said, "Pluto secondary validation."

Marcus nodded and responded a few moments later, "Planetary killer launched, impact on designated target in 83 minutes."

Serenity sighed and then added, "Marcus, stand down battle stations, go to recovery and reconstruction mode, discretion is also authorized."

The ancient AI gave a wide smile and said, "Thank you Serenity, this place will be looking almost new by the time you and yours are ready to return."

The Avatar sighed yet again and said, "I guess that is all." She turned to Marcus, "File a closure report on the battle, include final status on the meteor after its destruction and keep Pluto informed on your status on a monthly basis."

"Acknowledged," said the AI before terminating the connection when Serenity waved him off.

The Serenity avatar sighed and then leaned back, she softly said, "Setsuna, you are forgiven your actions as I do understand your options were limited." She closed her eyes and muttered, "Only one more thing to do, make peace with our heir."

Serenity and Usagi faced each other in the mindscape of the young girl's mind. Usagi launched herself at the other and clung to her as she began to cry. A long time later she let go and asked, "How could they betray me like that? I loved him and we were meant to be together."

The Serenity avatar could only answer, "Free will is a gift. But some abuse it and hurt others or betray trusts. The future is not fixed but I can tell you that he was not your soul mate in this time line. That person is about a year older than you are. He will start attending Furinkan High School before the end of the year if you want to give that option a try. No certainties, just a chance if you want to see how it goes."

Usagi sighed then asked, "Who are you though?"

Serenity laughed and said, "I am a magical construct made up of a portion of the magic, power and memories of each of your ancestors. I am magically linked to your bloodline magic. In times of great need, I can be called upon to help you with power or guidance as needed." She paused and then continued, "In addition, should you ever be attacked by your senshi, I will activate in emergency defense mode if you are unable to protect yourself as has just happened. Hopefully this will not occur again." She smiled softly and added, "Yes, I can help you with your homework even, but I won't unless you also make an effort to learn."

Usagi blushed but smiled anyway.

Serenity smiled once again before announcing, "It is time for me to retreat to the background of your mind. I have so much to teach you, but it is best that we wait a few more years before that happens." She added, "Had things turned out differently, had Neptune and Uranus not attacked you and then defied you as well, I would not have activated for a century or so otherwise and even then I would only have been an advisor. But now that I am active, I will be there for you if you call."

The two hugged and then the dreamscape faded as Usagi opened her eyes. Pluto saw a betrayed young girl looking back at her. "Why didn't you reveal yourself to me before today?" she softly asked.

Setsuna grimaced and explained, "The only path that I thought I had available to me to save the human race was a tightrope. If I had done anything else different, all would have been lost. But then the Serenity avatar fully activated in emergency defense mode for only the third time in history and it found a solution far better."

Usagi sighed, and asked, "Will you be able to help me to switch schools. The avatar suggested that I transfer to Furinkan if I wanted a chance to find my soul mate." She slumped and added, "She wouldn't tell me who he is either!"

Pluto sighed, "Yes." There really wasn't more she could add at this point.

Back at Rae's temple, the newlyweds were being confronted by the three inner scouts. It was not pretty and Rae was understandably nervous when she heard what had happened to the two scouts who had attacked the princess. Mamoru was feeling trapped. He had just enough of his past memories to recognize a magically binding marriage. It was way too late for second thoughts.

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The folks of Nerima turned to stare as a youma ran shrieking in fear. Close behind her was a swarm of senshi. These minor-moon senshi were insulting, tripping and bashing each other while yelling how they were going to do unpleasant things to the youma once they caught it.

After the crowd had passed, the shop-owners looked at the swath of destruction the senshi had left behind then shrugged, for Nerima this was normal.

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Ranma cuddled the little girl to her breasts; a sense of rightness made it seem natural to her. As the softly crying girl drifted into sleep, she whispered, "I love you momma."

At that moment, Ranma knew a piece of her future. This wasn't the first clue the little one had inadvertently dropped but it was the confirming one as far as Ranma was concerned and it certainly explained where the child's pink hair came from. She was going to be a mother someday. It scared her, actually frightened her almost silly in fact; but she was also looking forward to it now that she was holding her future daughter in her arms. She would not give this up; ever!

Usagi watched the pair and wondered at the speculative glances that came her way from the redhead. Finally her curiosity got too much for her to ignore and she strolled over and sat herself next to Ranma. "Alright, what is it now!" she demanded softly.

Ranma quietly chuckled, a sound slightly reminiscent of her birth form and answered obliquely by asking, "I wonder what your male form will look like when you become her father?"

While Usagi's jaw was flapping in the wind, Ranma added, "Isn't our future daughter beautiful?"

Usagi fainted.

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