My name is: Cassima My e-mail address is: cronin@customnet.net My story's title is: "30 Seconds--Reprise" "30 Seconds--Reprise" Ho-hum. I got lotsa mail back 'bout my origonal "30 Seconds" asking for a happier ending, so here we go! It could be a stand alone, if ya didn't read the first, but it may be more interesting if you read the other one ("It Takes 30 Seconds to Ruin a Life"). This is more cheery, though... In a few parts, it's actually funny... I guess... Rating: PG-13 or 14 once again, my selfless... ah... friends... Eh... for language. You know, I really don't talk like this... Disclaimer: I own the world. Why does everyone refuse to acknowledge that? I made it. (*I* sowed the seed. *I* grew the wheat. *I* cut the wheat. *I* ground it into flour. *I* made the bread. And what thanks do I get?!?) Sadly, I own nary an anime character, including the Incredible Sailor Moon. So, though I own you, I don't own the characters in this story. Or the bit of a poem I quote. Robert Frost wrote that. That's all I have to say. Author's note: * <-----emphasis, sweetie. - <-----thoughts, chickadee. ======================================================== "And now--on with the story!" "Yes, on with the story!" --Super Grover from Sesame Street. ======================================================== "30 Seconds--Reprise" Damn. God *dammit*! My arm makes a sweeping gesture, hurling my precious "delicate" (delicate my ass) instrument across the room where it stops with a *thud*, slamming against the wall and cracking to the floor. I should check to see if it's broken. Of course it isn't. I've been trying to break that damn thing for years. Why should it break now? Just to spite me. Ahh, I should have guessed. I'm too angry and grief stricken right now to do anything useful, though. I've conveniently introduced a paradox that has ever so kindly halted time. What to do, what to do. It's not a question. I relay the last scene that I have watched, over and over again, with Neptune's mirror. How interesting that it still exists, that time went on for a day after the paradox occured. The first problem only blew up half the gas tank. The last half hour blew up the rest of the enchalada. Holding the mirror in front of me again, I watch the scene unfold for the tenth time today... "Mina! Mina!" Ami's voice is hoarse and ragged. She seems to have forgotten that she's wearing Usagi's brooch. Makoto looks up dully into her friend's tear-stained eyes. "What is it, Ami-chan? Didn't you tell him about... about Usagi-chan?" Her voice catches in grief. "Yes, but--" "Because he needs to suffer like we are," Rei tells her, clenching her fists. "The bastard should have been there!" "But--" "So, how hurt was he? Did he even care?" Rei bites out, fire practically coming out of her ears. "Was he hurt?" Makoto wonders. "Did he take it well? I know Mamoru loved Usagi--" Everyone begins talking at once. "HE'S DEAD!!!!" Ami screams, trying to shut up the voices. "HE'S DEAD, OKAY???" Everyone stops talking, stunned. "Wha...?" Makoto begins, trembling. "How?" Rei swallows deeply. Ami hangs her head. "A... a youma. He didn't even care. He just sat there, head hung... it was *terrible*." She begins to sob again, slumping to the ground. "It... I... oh... mina... Usa--Usagi-chan..." Mina looks at Ami, her face suddenly growing cold. "I thought the ginzuishou exploded when Sailor Moon died." "It did," Makoto agrees, swallowing tears. "Why?" "Ami's wearing it." Everyone looks at Ami, their tears halted. The sound is clear silence, with the blue haired senshi's crying the only interruption. "You stole it." Rei broke the silence of the inners, shaking her head in disgust. "You *stole* Usagi's brooch! You're... you little leech! How can you... how... why didn't you save the Prince? If you were going to steal, you could've at least used it for *good*! Put some real use into it! You couldn've saved Mamoru-san!" At these acusations, Ami's back grows rigid. The Crystal is already having it's affect on her, making her stronger, smarter, better than before. Because of her power, it had taken Usagi a while to feel the effects of it, but Ami's energy surged through oddly, re-creating the crystal to fit her use. Unintentionally, mind you. "I did not *steal* the brooch, Rei," Ami hisses out. "*It* chose *me*. *I* decided to take it off Sailor Moon's body so the Negaverse wouldn't get it, not the rest of you, and by the time I noticed the youma, it had already killed Mamoru-san, okay? It's too late. It's too damn late for us to do anything. Someone else has to fix this mess. DO YOU HEAR ME?!?" she screams to the sky, looking straight at the Aqua Mirror, straight at me, as if she knows I'm watching. That is silly, though; at this point in time, she doesn't even know I exist. "DO SOMETHING!!!" The senshi freeze, with Ami's fist still in the air, and I know the sequence has ended. There is much I must do before the paradox causes the universe to explode. Much to do... "And miles to go before I die, And miles to go before I die." I sigh. I feel a headache coming on. Raising my self from my huddled position, I retrieve my staff from the other side of the room. I am almost upset it's not broken. Almost. Waving my arms, I reinstate myself at the Gate of Time, preparing to cross through it. With a moment of hesitation, I step through. Instantly, a whirlwind of colors whip around me, unseeable by one on the other side of the gate. I pull myself towards the tangle in time and enter the normal time stream. Damn, it's been a while since I've done this. I stagger, dizzy, across the sidewalk and stop when I come to a bench. When the party in my head finally stops, I start my search. Finding the Small Lady isn't a problem; she keeps the Luna Ball I gave her with her at all times, so I simply walk up there. Sure enough, there she is, playing on the sidewalk with her friend and jumping rope. Children are so easily entertained. Time for Time to intervene. "Small Lady," I call, standing with my arms crossed. "Small Lady, come here, please!" She looks up, startled, worried, and distinctly terrified. Her look changes when her eyes wander to my face, though, and she gallops towards me. "Puu!!!" she screams, arms outstreached. "PUU!!!" I swing her into my arms, enjoying the feel of her small body again. "Small Lady, you're in danger," I whisper into her tiny ear. Her eyes grow wide. "Later today, you will be attacked by a youma. At all costs, Sailor Moon must not die." "I love you, Puu." I pat her on the back, and her adorable red eyes plead with me not to leave. For a moment I am tempted. The moment passes. "I must go back now. Do not let Sailor Moon die!" I warn, knowing this is a harsh lesson. "Sailor Moon must not die! You must watch her back, make sure she does not get attacked from behind, even if it means that you are hurt." It pains me to tell her this; I love Small Lady like my own child. She runs away to find Sailor Moon and warn her, looking back for me every few seconds. Her friend simply stares in aggravation. "Why did Chibiusa-chan leave?" she askes, more than a little put out. "Don't worry," I tell her with a smile, "she'll be back." I walk to where the battle will take place, leaving the girl to find her way home. She'll live. Being abandoned by Small Lady and me won't scar her for life. I have arrived just in time for the middle of the battle. Ahh, the fun part; did my interference pay off? I sit down to watch. "Sailor Moon!" Small Lady cries, staring at the fukued girl. "Sailor Moon, look out!" The senshi's head whips around just in time to see the youma coming for her. The rest of her friends are almost spent, having been on time for the fight. With a great leap, Sailor Moon bounds out of the way, leaving a giant crater behind her. "Alright, that's the last straw!" she cries, hands on her hips. "I am Sailor Moon, the champion of justice! And, on behalf of the Moon, I'm gonna make you into creamed corn, you got that, Sleaze?" The monster makes a move for Small Lady. This is the deciding moment. All life depends on what happens now. Will my pink-haired bunny-- "SHABON SPRAY!" Mercury manages to cloud the air with her weak attack, and sweeps Small Lady out of the way. "Are you okay?" she asks, eyeing the girl. Small Lady nods her head, wide eyed at that close encounter. All that is left where she is a crater, similar to the one that Sailor Moon dodged. I am agog. -Sailor Moon was supposed to try to save her,- I think. -Why did Mercury--How did she know...- I think suspiciously. I reveiw what I saw in the mirror of the fight in my head. -Last time, Mercury was spent, and on the other side of the street. How did she...- But, as I always say, if you stop to think, time simply goes on. "Sailor Moon!" Mercury yells. "Now!" "Right!" Moon pulls out her septre and points it at the youma. "You're sushi! Moon Princess Halation!" "Waitaminute," the youma screams as it turns into dust, "this isn't supposed to happe--" It crashes to the ground in a pile of dust, bewildered. "Are you all okay?" Moon asks her senshi, running to the closest, Venus. "Venus, say something!" Venus simply smiles and says something that I can't hear. Mainly because I'm not listening. Mercury has walked over to me, very deliberately, and looks me in the eye. "The ginzuishou told me." Smart girl. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* So, is that a suitable ending, or did it just suck? I take my comments medium-rare to well done and frequently, so please tell me whacha think. I'm dying to hear. (:) Overview: Last time we left "30 seconds", Ami promised to serve the crystal. When I was thinking about this late one night when I couldn't sleep, I realized that there was a paradox in my plot. That ticked me off. (If you're wondering what part was paradox, it was the fact that Sailor Moon would've died to save her daughter's life--and without her mother, her daughter would never have been born to go back in time and get her life saved by Sailor Moon. Mamoru would be on his guard better w/o the bad news, so we won't worry about his ass. ::grins:: Well, some of us won't worry...) If this ruined the whole story for you, just forget this part and remember the first (which I, personally, like better. It flowed well). If you think it sucked without a conclusive ending (got one of *those* letters, you know) this probably made your day. I'm babbling, aren't I? I'll stop soon, cross my heart. This is told from Pluto's PoV, and Pluto went back in time to have Chibiusa warn Sailor Moon while the battle was being fought. Where did Pluto get her time key? God only knows. She probably kept a spare. Mercury and Pluto are the only ones who remember the alternate time line; Puu because she exists outside of time and knows this crap like the back of her hand, and Mercury because the Ginzuishou told her in the alternate reality that Sailor Moon died in and she remembered. Try not to strain your brain on it, okay? Honestly, I'm going to stop typing soon. I'm trying to finish... the story's over... go home... you are at home... and I'm at home... and we're all reading the same damn fanfic at the same damn time. Isn't technology wonderful?