cdavies@gpu1.srv.ualberta.ca (Chris Davies)

                                Sailor Moon
                                Celebration

(The story thus far:  The day of Serena and Darien's wedding has come,
arousing mixed feelings in Raye.  After an uncomfortable while "guarding"
Darien, Raye flees to work out what she's feeling, and returns to announce
that she still has feelings for Darien.  Fortunately (?) he's not there,
and she announces her feelings to Erica and Michelle.  Ultimately, the
wedding begins, but is interrrupted when someone appearing to be Prince
Endymion attacks, injuring Darien and Chad (the latter critically) and
kidnapping Serena.  The Sailor Scouts organize to rescue her, learning
from a telepathic cry for help that she is in the catacombs behind a gate
to the Dark Kingdom.)

                               Chapter Three

    The arcade was closed, which probably wasn't surprising, all things
considered.  We transformed with a minimum of fuss, and leapt into the
portal silently.

    The tunnels that lay beyond the gate were dark and misty.  Mercury
immediately produced her computer and did a scan.  Wordlessly, she guided
us down one of the passages.

    Just like last time, Mina was the first to sense the wave of darkness
before it hit us.  "Get ready!" she shouted.

    But nothing could have gotten us ready for the *things* that came
crawling out of the passages.  There must have been hundreds of them --
twisted indescribable creatures out of nightmares.

    After only a few minutes, I realized that the worst of them seemed to
be ignoring me, focusing on Venus, Jupiter and Mercury.  While they were
only holding their ground by the narrowest of margins, I was moving
forward against the beasts -- slowly, but forward.

    I risked a look back at the others.  Lita was locked in a hand-to-hand
fight with an insect-like *thing* that had six arms to her two; she was
too close to the thing to risk releasing her thunder.  Amy was moving with
greater grace than I'd ever seen in her before, only just avoiding the
monsters.  Mina was up to her waste in some kind of sludge creature's
embrace, slicing into it with her chain.

    I met Mina's eyes.  She saw what was happening, and with a nod, gave
me permission.

    I began to force my way through such monsters as were trying to face
me, working my way to the end of the tunnel, which opened up into a
chamber.

    Suddenly, I heard a low rumble behind me.  I turned back just in time
to see the passage collapse behind me, throwing up a huge cloud of dust.

    For a moment, I stood right where I was, waiting for whatever attack
the false Endymion cared to bring against me.  He'd clearly gone to a lot
of trouble to separate me from my companions -- all I could do for them
now was hope that they hadn't been caught ...

    I heard the scrape of a boot.

    And then the laughter began.

    It was the laughter of a woman long past the edge of madness, driven
there by pain and outrage, and now seeking only to find satisfaction in
the pain and outrage of others.

    The most frightening part was realizing that it was also Serena's
laughter.

    She stepped out of the dust near me, and slammed her fist into my
stomach before I knew what hit me.  I went flying back, slamming against a
cavern wall, and the breath went out of me.

    I heard a clicking noise as she drew close to me, and finally managed
to get my eyes open as it stopped.

    I looked up at Serena.  She was wearing a version of her old costume
-- but it was black where her costume was blue, a sickly gray where her
costume was white ... and the reds of her costume were a dark, thick red
colour.  Like blood.

    And the jewels in her meatballs were skulls.

    "Hello, Raye," she said with false sweetness, "I'm *so* glad you could
make it this far.  I wanted to see you once more ... right before the
end."

    "Serena," I gasped.

    She swiveled and kicked me in the side.  "That's Serenity, Raye," she
said in the same sweet tone as I lay on the ground, coughing up blood.
"Serena is alllll gone now."

    "I don't believe you ..." I managed to get out.

    "But why, Raye?  You *hated* Serena.  She was weak, and silly, and a
burden.  Well, I'm not weak ANYMORE!" she finished with a shriek, and
moved to bring the stilleto heel of her boot on my back.  I managed to
roll away just in time, such that she only cut into my shoulder.

    "You're ... you're not in control of yourself, Serena," I said,
pulling myself to my feet.  "He's making you do all this ..."

    "*He* is the one who made me see the truth!" she screamed.  "That
you've all been coddling me, keeping me from reaching my true power.  Well
that's not gonna happen ANYMORE!" she hissed, and swung her hand to slap
me across the face.

    I felt one of her fingernails slice into my left cheek, just under my
eye, and realized that if she had been a little higher, she would have
been able to gouge at my eye.  I darted back, crying "Which is it?  Were
you a burden, or did we coddle you?  Can't have it both ways!"

    "Oh yes I can too!" Serena barked, kicking at me.  I only barely
dodged out of the way.  "I can have everything I want!  EVERYTHING!"

    "Everything you want, or everything he wants you to have?" I sneered.

    And stepped back into the cavern wall.

    She loomed before me, grinning like a banshee.  "It's time to end
this, once and for all, Raye.  IN THE NAME OF ME ... I'LL PUNISH YOU!"
She reached for her tiara.

    "Serena, don't ... you don't want to do this."

    "Oh I do," she hissed.  "I want to kill the one who has hated me so
long ..."

    And suddenly I knew that there was only one weapon strong enough to
defeat what our enemy had done to her.  I swallowed.  "But Serena ... I
don't hate you ..."

    "LIAR!" she shrieked, and almost tore the tiara from her forehead.
"DARK TIARA ..."

    "I love you," I said, and closed my eyes.

    "SLAY--

    For a long moment, I wondered if the tiara had sliced through me, and
I had just blocked the agonized memory ... if this was the eternal moment
between life and death.

    I cracked open an eye, and realized that I was still alive.

    The tiara whirred and twisted, a discus of inky black darkness, less
than an inch from my stomach.  If I took a step forward, it would plunge
into my inards.

    I looked at Serena.  Her face was twisted in rage, and her hand was
held out as if she had just thrown the tiara.  Her entire body was stiff
and locked.

    "Three little words," I said quietly.  "You wouldn't think that they
could mean so much, would you?  But they do.  They mean everything, when
they're true.  And they are."

    "Rrrrraaaaaye," she growled.

    "You can have anything you want, Serena.  That's what he promised,
isn't it?  Well, I promise it too.  You can have anything I can give you,
Serena.  Do you want my life?  It's yours.  My life is in your hands, my
blood is in your veins.  If that's what you want.  Because I love you," I
finished, wondering where that bit about blood had come from.

    Slowly, she began to shake her head.  She kept shaking it, faster and
faster, and a low moan issued from her lips.  "nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnyyyyyyyyyyy
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAYYYE!" she exploded,
and her hand jerked.

    The discus flew.

    Away from me, smashing into the far wall, and exploding in a puff of
foul smoke.

    Serena stood, her arm outstretched, for a second, and then she
collapsed to her knees.  I rushed forward, and caught her.

    "Nooooo!" she cried.  "Let go of meeee!"

    "Never," I murmured, holding her tightly.

    I was a bit put out when she started to vomit up something black and
oily -- it got smeared all over me -- but I never let go of her, even when
she was giving dry heaves, and her eyes were trickling the same stuff, and
her nose ...

    "You love me?" she sobbed.  "How can you love something like me?  I
..." she broke down completely for a moment, then whispered, "I wanted to
kill you, Raye ..."

    "No you didn't," I whispered, cradling her.  "That was just him, using
you to ..."

    "NO!" she shrieked.  "Don't you understand?  H-he took all my little
hates, my insecurities, my ... oh gods, I'm *horrible*.  How could anyone
love something like me?"

    "You're *not* horrible," I said fiercely.  "Don't you know that it's
*because* of your flaws that we love you, not despite them?  We love you
... *I* love you because you are you, Serena."

    I leaned down to kiss her forehead.  She leaned up to look at me.

    And somehow in the middle I found myself kissing her lips.

    And it was as sweet as I'd dreamed it would be a month before.

    I had run from it, fought against it, denied it with all my strength
... and it had all come down to this:  that I loved her with all the
passion I had.

    Then there was a big explosion behind us.  I shielded her body from
the flying rocks that erupted from the explosion of the rockslide ...

    "Well.  Well, well, well," said Sailor Uranus.

    I turned to look at them -- Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.  "I could've
sworn that Venus said something about the three of you staying behind
until she called for you?" I asked wearily.

    "Fortunately for her, we decided to risk a court martial," Neptune
said quietly.  "The others are okay, they took an awful pounding back
there, but Saturn's looking after them, and they'll be all right.  Are you
..."

    "I'm fine," I lied, "get her out of here."  I tried to lift Serena up
into Uranus' waiting arms, but couldn't quite manage it.  She bent down to
take her up, looking at both of us with a worried expresion.

    "You are not fine," Pluto said shortly.  "You will require medical
treatment.  Uranus, Neptune, take them back, I will go on alone ... if I
don't contact you in half an hour, take whatever actions necessary to
destroy these tunnels."

    "No."

    I stared fixedly at Pluto.  Slowly, she turned to look at me.  "What
was that?" she asked.

    "I said, no.  *You* go back with her, and if *I* don't come back in
half an hour, whipe this place off the map."

    Pluto stared at me for a second, then drove a finger at my forehead.

    I caught it between two of my fingers, when it was more than an inch
away.  Pluto blinked.  I took it to mean that she was flabbergasted.

    "I can do what has to be done, Pluto," I said.  "He's gone to all this
trouble to separate me from the rest of you.  I have to know why.  Get
back up to the surface, and take care of ... the rest," I said finally.

    Pluto gazed at me, and for the first time I saw something other than
cool evaluation in her eyes.  It might have been respect.  I don't know.
"First Serena, then Mina, then you ..." she whispered.  "Perhaps I should
have paid more attention to the lot of you while you were ..."

    She stopped, shook her head.  Pluto turned to look at Neptune and
Uranus, the latter cradling Serena, who looked half-way gone already.
They had all three been watching our little confrontation.  "Take the
Princess to the surface, I will join you shortly," she said.

    "Right ..." Uranus said unsteadily.

    "But what about ..." Neptune suddenly inquired.

    "Raye!" Serena cried.  "I ..."

    "I know, you're sorry you hurt me, I'm sorry you hurt me too, now
git!"

    "But I ..."

    Pluto tapped a point on Serena's forehead, and she dropped into sleep
at once, snoring loudly.

    "I didn't know she knew pressure point techniques," Uranus murmured.

    "She has *many* skills ..." Neptune said dryly.

    "GO," Pluto said firmly.

    They went.  Pluto turned to look at me.  "Why wouldn't you let her say
that she ..." she began.

    "Because she doesn't, she's just hurt and confused by all the shit
that she's just been through, and only a complete crumb would take
advantage of that ..."

    "I think you underestimate her ... a common error, but ..." Pluto
shook her head.

    "Take ... take good care of her, please," I said, and I was aware that
I was begging, and that tears were running down my face.

    "I will.  By every holy name, I swear it," she replied.  Her eyes
seemed moist, but it was hard to tell.  "But I have two gifts for you,
that may be of some help in your battle."  She extended her staff to touch
my forehead.

    I blinked.  "I don't feel any different."

    "When the time comes, you will," Pluto said as she began to walk out
the hole in the wall that they had made.  She turned back to look at me,
for just a moment, favoring me with the ghost of a smile.  And then she
left.

    I pulled myself to my feet, and stared down the two passageways that
led out of this chamber and further down into the labyrinth.  I took the
left one.

    The mist soon cleared up.

    The chamber that the passage opened up into was rather large, and
carefully formed.  It hadn't been `grown' like the other chambers I'd
passed through had been ... this had been deliberately constructed to be
like this.

    Endymion sat on a throne at the far end of the room, looking back at
me expressionlessly.  "I was not sure," he said slowly, "that you would do
it."

    I said nothing, gave him nothing.

    "But, since you are here ... and since you are alone ... you clearly
must have killed the little fool."  He smiled suddenly.  "You have finally
begun to grow up, Mars ..."

    "You can drop the disguise any time," I said quietly.

    "Why thank you, I believe that I will."  His features flowed like wax
for a second, and when they were done, he looked nothing like Endymion at
all.

    His features were eerily like mine in a way -- they suggested
something bird-like, or even raven-like, possibly.  But his hair was a
cool blond shade.

    "Well?  Don't you want to know how I survived?" Jadeite asked.

    "Not really," I said with a degree of control that would have
impressed Mina, or even Susan.  "I'm much more curious as to why you've
done all this, now?  Why wait four years to take your revenge on Serena?"

    He laughed madly.  "Do you *seriously* believe that this has anything
to do with *her*?  She was just a tool to bring you to me, Mars."

    I let out a breath.  "Aside from having undone your schemes back then
... why single me out?"

    He stared.  "You mean you don't *know*?" Jadeite barked.  "You don't
remember what we were to each other?  You don't recall that we were to be
married?!"

    I wanted to faint dead away.  "No," I murmured.  "I don't remember any
of ..."

    And then my mind made a liar out of me.  Pluto's first gift.

    "We were engaged from the cradle, until you were eighteen years old
and suddenly decided to break the engagement!" he roared.  "And you had
the GALL to announce in public that it was because you loved another!"

    He sat breathing deeply for a moment, his eyes alight with fury.  "It
could only be one person, of course, the only one who could have stolen
your heart from me.  Endymion," he spat out the name.  "That was when the
Dark Kingdom was born, do you know that?  Beryl was alone until I joined
forces with her.  Because you rejected me for him, all the horror that
came from Metallia was born ..."

    I shook my head.  "Oh no.  You won't put the blame for that on me.
Especially not since you're so wrong ..."

    "What?!" he thundered, almost rising off his throne.

    "Endymion didn't `steal my heart from you', Jadeite.  It was never
yours to begin with.  I never loved you ..."

    "YOU SHOULD HAVE!" he screamed.

    Ignoring him, I continued.  "And it wasn't Endymion that I rejected
you for, idiot."  My eyes closed as the greatest secret of my heart
revealed itself to me.  It was so incredible to realize ...

    "Then who?" he snarled.

    "None of your business," I replied, smiling.

    His face was clenched in hate.  "It doesn't matter.  You realize,
don't you, that you can never go back to your friends, having killed your
Princess, even though she was ..."

    "Wrong again, bunky," I said cheerfully.  "She's all right, and
probably very far away from here.  And pretty soon, the Outer Scouts will
come to turn this place into so much dust ..."

    "They're welcome to try," he sneered, opening his hand to let ...
something float up.  I stared at the tiny crystal ... and recoiled from
what I saw.  It was a tiny piece of perfect darkness.  Looking too closely
at it was like staring into the abyss.

    "Nephrite fashioned this, somehow," Jadeite said, smiling viciously.
"After his death, it passed into Zoisite's hands.  After *she* was killed,
it hid itself for awhile, growing in power equal to its opposite number --
the Silver Empyrean Crystal.  The Dark Crystal can match anything that
they'd care to throw at me, Mars ..."

    Before he could say anything else, I fired off a Mars Flame Sniper at
him.  It dissipated before it got within a foot of him.

    "Care to try again?"

    I realized something as he sneered at me.  I realized that I hated him
more than I'd hated any other foe that I'd ever been drawn into conflict
with.

    I used my hatred and rage as I reached deep within myself and drew out
my final, ultimate attack.  Susan's second gift.

    "MARS."  It was hotter than anything I'd ever released before even as
it started to build up.  "ETERNAL."  Part of my mind screamed in terror at
what was going to happen to me if I did this.  "FLAME!!"

    And I felt it explode forth from me, cascading outward in an endless,
irresistable wave.  It was beautiful ... red and orange and yellow and
purple blending together into an almost white light; the delicious scent
of burning hair; the exquisite agony in my hands and fingers as it
streamed outward.  The one sad part was that I knew it would only last ten
seconds, and that I'd die at the end.

    And that then the pleasure of burning would be no more.

    Almost as bad was the fact that it didn't seem to be having any effect
on Jadeite's forcefield.  He'd been a bit shocked when I unleashed it, but
had recovered nicely.  "Stop the melodrama, Mars, this won't work," he
sneered.

    Eight seconds.

    "Is this supposed to impress me in some way?"

    Six seconds.

    "Mars, stop it.  Don't throw your life away ..."

    Four seconds.

    "Why?!!  They aren't worth dying for, surely!"

    Two seconds.

    "STOP!"

    One second ... I reigned it back in almost all the way, so that I
could just feel the heat in my fingers.  I felt myself fall over onto my
side.

    Immediately, Jadeite was there, staring at me with mixed awe and
fear.  "Oh, Mars, why?" he moaned, as he knelt down, and gathered me up.
"You knew!  You knew that all along I still loved you, and you thought you
could bluff me into making me drop my defenses if your life was in
jeopardy.  Ever since Beryl was destroyed and I remembered what I truly
was, I have always loved you ..."

    "YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE," I croaked, and let the flames burst through my
fist as I slammed it into his stomach.

    For a moment, I felt something holding against the fist ... and then
it surged through, and I felt and heard his guts boil as it passed through
him, exploding out his back.

    Jadeite's face twisted in agony, and he looked at me in horror.  I
returned his look with every degree of equanamity I had.

    "C-c-c-curse yoouuuughhhh," he managed to grunt, just before he began
to disintegrate into a dark dust.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him
start to lift his left hand, but I figured that he wouldn't be able to get
off an attack before the end ...

    I guess he figured that too, which was why he drove his left hand
towards my face as fast as he could ...

    His finger slammed into my left eye, my world exploded, and I knew
nothing.

                                  *  *  *

    And then I woke up, in agony.  Doctors were shouting, but I couldn't
understand anything that they said.  I closed my eyes -- the one that
opened at any rate.

    And then I woke up.  Grandpa was standing by my bedside, muttering
something.  I was surprised to see that my father was standing beside him,
silently.  They realized that I was awake, and my father leaned over to
say something to me, but the roaring in my ears was too loud to hear it.
I closed my eye.

    And then I woke up.  Amy was leaning against the window of my hospital
room, staring out.  Her face was tired.  She looked over at me, and saw
that I was awake.

    "Chd?" I managed to grunt.

    Amy closed her eyes.  Tears rolling down her face, she shook her
head.  "He never woke up ..." she murmured.

    I closed my eye.

    And then I woke up.  Serena was holding my burnt hand to her cheek,
and crying quietly, as Darien held her tightly.  She was pale and wan,
while his left arm was in a cast.  I closed my eye before they realized I
was awake.

    I dreamed of them.

    And then I woke up.  Michelle and Susan were arguing softly but
forcefully not too far away.  Erica was standing, cradling Lydia gently.
The little one looked exhausted.

    Susan realized that I was awake at once.  "She's awake.  Let her
decide, if you insist on this madness."

    "Raye?" Michelle asked.  "Can you hear me?"  I nodded, I was too weak
to speak.  "We want to let Lydia try and heal you, Raye.  Serena is too
weak to use the Silver ..."

    "Nuh."

    "Raye, if you don't get magical healing, you may never recover.  Your
wounds are very grave ..." Michelle continued.

    Lydia lifted her weary head, and looked at me.  "I want to do it,
Raye," she said quietly.  "I can handle it ..."

    "No, she *can't*," Susan said angrily.

    "I *have* to," Lydia insisted.  "She gave *everything* for us.  How
can I *not* give all that I have for her?"

    "Nuh!"

    "Please, Raye," Lydia begged, tears running down her face.  "Let me
help you."

    I stared into that teary face, and felt my resolve fade like a light.
I nodded, and Erica moved to lay Lydia down in bed next to me.  The little
girl placed one hand over the mass of bandages that covered the left side
of my face and the other over my heart.  And then she pressed.

    It was like being held in the arms of a phoenix ... like being sent
through flames that purified without hurting.  It was like ... like any
time I watched Serena draw forth the Silver Crystal.

    When I came to myself the others had left us alone.  Lydia was fast
asleep in my arms.

    All the cuts and bruises and wounds were gone -- but one.

    My left eye was gone.

    I leaned back, and closed my eye, and tried to sleep.

    "Raye?" Serena's voice asked.

    I opened my eye and saw that she was standing in the doorway.  "Hi," I
said quietly, indicating Lydia's condition.

    Serena nodded, and stepped into the room.  "I just ... I wanted to say
... oh, God, Raye, I'm so sorry ..."  She was almost crying.

    "It wasn't your fault ..."

    "Yes it was!  If it wasn't for me ... if you hadn't known me, Chad
wouldn't have been k-killed like that, and you'd still have your eye, and
..."

    "... and I'd be a lonely, bitter woman, Serena," I said quietly.  "I
don't regret anything ..."

    "Of course you don't!  That's the worst part!" Serena cried.  "You
love me so much you'd march into hell if I asked you!  You'd ..."

    "But you'd never ask.  Because *you* love *us*," I interrupted.

    Serena looked away, then turned back to look directly at me.  I could
tell from her posture, her voice, and a hundred other cues that she was
terrified but doing her best to be brave.  "Raye ..." she said faintly,
"you said ... down there ... that you love me.  I need to know ..."

    "Of course I wasn't lying, what sort of a person ..." I cried to try
and throw her off track.

    "No, Raye, I need to know if you love me ... like Erica loves
Michelle."

    The fifteen seconds that we spent staring at each other were the
longest in my life.

    "Serena ... you idiot," I said with heavy scorn.  "This is about that
kiss, isn't it?  It was just a mix up.  I didn't *intend* to kiss you like
that!  Cheeeeeee ... you've been spending too much time around those
Westerner cousins of yours!  You're starting to get as *sex-obsessed* as
they are!"

    Serena stared at me ... then blinked.  Then *blushed* heavily.  "Oh,
Raye, I'm sorry, I'm such a twit ..."

    "No, we need a new word to describe what you are," I said heavily.

    "Well, I'm glad we got that cleared up," Serena said suddenly.  "I
mean, I'd hate to see two people I loved fighting over me ... wouldn't
you?"  Her voice sounded so small.

    "Yeah," I said shakily, "whatever you say ..."

    She nodded, waved, and walked out of the hospital room.

    I closed my eye, and sighed deeply.

    "Why?"  The small voice was anguished.

    I looked down at Lydia's face.  Her eyes were brimming with tears.

    "How much did you hear?" I asked.

    "Why didn't you tell her how much you love her?" Lydia asked, almost
angrily.

    "Because ..."

    "It's not *fair*!  You went through all that to save her, you suffered
for her ... and you're giving her up?!"

    "Lydia ... the only reward I want is her happiness."

    "Why don't you think she could be happy with you?!"

    "She could be.  But ..."

    "But *nothing!*  You'd be happy, she'd be happy, what else matters?"

    "What about Darien?"

    Lydia was silent.

    "Doesn't he deserve happiness, too?  And ... I need his happiness as
much as I need hers, Lydia-chan."

    "It's not fair," Lydia repeated, tears starting to run down her face.

    "And what about Reenie?" I asked quietly.

    "Ch-cheap shot," she sobbed.

    I gently kissed her forehead.  I was surprised to realise that I was
crying myself.  "Of course it's not fair, Lydia ..." I whispered.  "It's
love."

                                 *   *   *

    Two weeks later, after I had been discharged from the hospital, after
the ... funeral had been held, the Tsukino-Chiba wedding party gathered
again in the chapel.  Most of the McNichols had gone home, but Serena's
tall cousin, Richard, was still present, and kept trying to flirt with all
of us -- well, for some reason, he kept his distance from me ...

    Just as the wedding was about to begin, Susan came out of the foyer
where Serena was waiting, and asked for Melvin, Sammy, and Mrs. Tsukino to
join Molly, Serena's father, and the lady herself for a brief discussion.
Susan shut the doors after they went in, and faced the room with a faint
smile.

    A few minutes later, a shrieked "NANI?" came from behind the doors,
and everyone twisted around to stare.

    Darien had stiffened almost imperceptably at the front of the chapel
just before the shriek, and there was a faint glistening about him for a
moment.  At once, I guessed what had happened, and shared a quick grin
with the others.

    Just a little while later, the doors opened again, and Sammy led his
mother out of the foyer.  They both looked like they'd just learned
something that was completely beyond their understanding ... but Sammy
seemed to be taking it worse.  He kept muttering "Serena's ..." over and
over again.  Melvin wasn't in much better shape, but he looked at least a
bit pleased.  As the wedding procession began, *I* was a bit surprised to
see the calm expression that Molly was wearing ... it was almost like
she'd been expecting this, and was pleased to have been right.  But that
was ridiculous of course.  And when Serena guided her father up the aisle,
his face was beyond shock ...

    The ceremony was a bit quick this time, as if everyone was trying to
ensure that there wasn't a repeat of the previous disaster.  Serena and
Darien exchanged rings, pledged their eternal love, and everyone held
their breath when the minister asked the fateful question about "just
cause".

    Nobody showed up though, and the ceremony continued.

    "Then, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife."
A short pause.  "You may kiss the bride."

    And I looked up, and prepared for my heart to break.

    Their lips pressed together.

    And my heart didn't break.

    It *sang*.

                                  *  *  *

    After everything that had happened, I was expecting a quiet
reception.  I shouldn't have, but I did.

    The four of us sat together, watching as Serena accepted halting
congratulations on her wedding from each and every one of the Canadians
who'd come.  She was the picture of politeness, even as they mangled the
language terribly.

    "Hey, Raye," Mina said suddenly.  "It's strange, but you look ...
kinda neat with that eyepatch."

    "Mina!" Lita hissed.

    "Well, she does!"

    "It's okay, Lita ... I didn't like the looks of any of the false eyes
that they had available, so ..."

    "Ah, just give them a few years," Mina said confidently.  "It won't be
much longer before they're coming up with bionic eyes.  Now that'll be
just too ..." She suddenly looked up at the karaoke machine that was being
set up.  " 'Scuse me.  I sense stardom beckoning."  She was off like a
rocket.

    Lita and Amy exchanged weary looks, while I just smiled distantly.

    I watched Lita's friend busily working at the buffet table.  Her
okonomiyaki was a smash hit, as was the attractive young waitress that she
had brought with her ... I wondered why a vaguely evil grin spread across
Ms. Kuonji's face whenever any of the men approached the young lady.

    Suddenly, everyone began to clear away from the center of the
reception hall.  I remembered, suddenly, that it was a tradition at
wedding receptions that the first dance always belonged to the newlyweds
and that I'd wanted to sing a song for their dance.  I began to stand up
...

    ... then sat down.  I still wasn't at a hundred percent, and my voice
was not quite my best feature at the moment.  It wasn't a rasp, exactly,
but I wasn't going to be singing anything tonight.

    Just one more disappointment ...

    I watched Mina speaking to Serena rapidly, saw Serena nod decisively,
then lean over to whisper in Mina's ear.  I wondered what was going on.
Then Mina headed over to the karaoke machine, picked up the mike, and
began to speak.

    "Good evening, everyone, and a special `Hello' to our visitors from
Canada!  I've been asked to sing the first song for our dear friends'
nuptial dance."  Her smile faltered a bit, then resurged.  "It's a song I
heard earlier this year, when I visited Canada and a ... a friend of mine
who lives there.  Anyway, I hope I can do justice to Ms. Celine Dion's
`Because You Loved Me'".

    The music was easy and gentle, perfect for the slow dance that Serena
and Darien began in the center of the room.  I watched silently, hardly
able to believe that Mina could have been hiding such a lovely voice for
so long.

              "For all those times you stood by me,
              For all the truth that you made me see,
              For all the joy you brought to my life
              For all the wrong that you made right
              For every dream you made come true
              For all the love I found in you
              I'll be forever thankful, Baby,
              You're the one who held me up,
              Never let me fall ...
              You're the one who saw me through
              Through it all.

              You were my strength when I was weak
              You were my voice when I couldn't speak
              You were my eyes when I couldn't see
              You saw the best there was in me
              Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
              You gave me faith 'cause you believed
              I'm everything I am because you loved me

    There was another verse, and the chorus repeated, before the music
suddenly shot up in intensity.  Mina's eyes were shut tightly as she sang
the next verse.

              You were always there for me
              The tender wind that carried me
              The fire in the dark
              Shining your love into my life
              You've been my inspiration
              Through the lies you were the truth
              My world is a better place
              Because of you ...

    My eyes were wet with tears as I watched them glide across the dance
floor, heard the music, and *felt* the passion in the air.  He was the
most incredible man I'd ever met; she was the most beautiful woman I'd
ever seen.

    That was why I could never have married Chad.  Because ultimately,
what I loved in Chad were all the things that I loved in Serena and
Darien.  It wouldn't have been fair to him to have married him as a
substitute for either of them.

    Would it?

    As the song came to its end, I got up from my chair, and made my way
to the washroom to get caught up in my crying in private.

    When I was done, I reached out to snatch some paper towels from the
dispenser ... and someone handed me a handkerchief.  I dried my eyes for a
few moments before I realized what had happened, and turned to look at the
person who had somehow entered the bathroom without my realizing it.

    She was about Serena's height, and looked very much like her ... but
her pink hair was done up in an style that was more like rabbit ears than
meatballs.

    I recognized her at once of course.  She smiled, gently.

    "Should you be here?" I asked, a bit hoarsely.

    "Probably not," she said calmly.  "I'll probably get an awful tongue
lashing from Pluto when I get back home ... but I had to be here.  You
told me so."

    "I did?"

    "A little over a thousand years from now.  You told me to tell you
some things.  Please remember to tell me them ..."  She paused.  "I hate
casuality loops.  Anyway, the first is to tell you that the song that
Venus sang just now ... she didn't pick it herself.  Mama did."

    I stared at her, amazed.  "S-serena chose the ..."

    "And it *is* about you.  She knows how you really feel, and she
returns your feelings in full.  But ..."  Reenie paused, sighed, and
shrugged.

    "That makes it ... a little easier, I think.  Thank you," I said
quietly.

    She nodded, turned away, and headed for the door.  When I stepped out
of the bathroom, she was nowhere in sight.  I returned to the hall, just
as another dance began, too late to find a partner.  I watched Lita
dancing (awkwardly) with that cousin of Serena's, Amy doing a gentle dance
with Greg, Mina in the middle of a circle of admirers, and Alex and
Michelle moving gracefully across the floor.

    And in the centre of the floor, Serena and Darien moved in the
patterns of the dance that they had known millenia ago, on the moon.

    And I watched, my heart at peace.  She smiled at me, across the dance
floor, and I was reminded of the truth of that song she had chosen.

    For I am everything I am, because she loves me.

                                 The End.

Author's Notes

    Nah.

    Sailor Moon was created by Naoko Takeuchi and brought to North America
by DiC.  The song "Because You Loved Me" was written by Diane Warren and
performed by Celine Dion.  This story, while incorporating aspects of
motion pictures and songs held under copyright by others, is copyright
1996 by Chris Davies.

    Nobody sue me, okay?

Chris Davies, Advocate for Darkness, Part-Time Champion of Light.
"I am not a very nice person anymore." - Rand al'Thor, "Crown of Swords"
http://www.ualberta.ca/~cdavies/hmpage.html