Chibi-Usa~

You know, I never thought I could die. I know that sounds foolish, like some
silly childs fantasy world - but it's true. Always fighting beside my 
mother, I've
often thought myself invinsible.  I never once took a step back to think, 
and
realize I was only as strong, and alive as I have been, because my mother 
and
father were always there to watch over me.

Well, I was wrong. It's a difficult thing, realizing you won't live forever. 
Feeling
yourself, and your life drain from you without being able to do a single 
thing
to stop it. The only hope I carry with me, lord knows I must have gotten it 
from
Usagi's gene's, is that perhaps, just maybe, she'll save us. I have heard 
stories
from all the senshi about the few times they've died, and then resurrected. 
My
only hope now, is that this can happen again.

But everything seems doubtful. I can feel the hope, and I want to hang on to 
it.
But... this death, it feels so... final. Hotaru's hand is cold, at least 
what I can tell
from it. Then again, when wasn't Hotaru's hand cold? I can almost smile at 
that,
though not really.

What do I have to smile about. Here, on the ground, waiting for the death to
take me as Usagi battles on. I'm shamed to admit I wish death would take me
already. The pain I feel now makes staying alive seem so unbearable. And 
what
for? To just die? I wonder if I should just let go of my transformation. My 
body
in this excelled form may be trying to heal itself, only dragging on my pain 
even
longer. It can't heal. The cut that ripped through my stomach, and the 
energy
blast that followed have left me limp, and unable to even so much as move. I
can't even cry, my body won't let me.

I wonder if Hotaru is crying. I wonder if she is alive. I know Usagi is 
alive, I can
just see the light of battle. Blood has caked around my mouth, the taste and
smell of it are far too familiar to me now. I almost wish I'd never come. 
But no,
I'm not a child. I came because they thought I could help, but I had no idea
what I was coming into. None at all.

What of Mamoru? I know he was the last to stand by her side, but she fights 
with
his sword now. Just this realization racking my brain makes me wish more for
my death. But... he can't be dead. Not yet, because I am still here. Hope is 
so
useless to me. Either way I am dead. If he dies, I am gone, and never was. 
If I
lay here as I do now, I am dead anyway.

Please just let me die...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Grandpa..." I remember myself saying, devestated. All the times that he 
would
comfort me when I was young, and the girls would run off to do their own 
thing
while leaving me behind to wait for them flashed by.  Death more real then, 
than
any other time I could remember. And Rei-chan, she looked so lost, holding 
her
grandfathers dead body on her lap, while rocking quietly back and forth.

The funeral was even worse. I'd never been to a funeral before, it was 
heartbreaking,
sitting back and watching as Rei calmly, without a single tear, spoke for 
her
grandfather, did the prayer and song, then stood as his coffin was lowered 
into
the ground.

We were all hurting, but Rei wouldn't show a sign of her grief after that 
day when
she held his body. She seemed both strong and weak to me then. Strong enough
to get done what needed to be done, but too weak and afraid to lean on her
friends when she probably needed them most. I suppose I really didn't have a
clue what was going on around me. Nor  what to expect before what I saw that 
day
at the shrine.

I hadn't even acted, I'd just stood there, staring in disgust as our enemy 
ripped
people apart. And now I was angry. I swore I would do my best to stop this 
as
fast as I could.

But there was still that doubt, buried deep down inside. If... Usagi hadn't 
been
able to stop it, with the help of Mamoru, and the senshi - what could I do? 
They
must have really needed help if they called me in. I feared, I would never 
be as
great as my mother, or even future mother. She fought, she loved, she 
struggled,
but this time she had yet to come out on top. My faith in her didn't 
faulter, but
I wondered what I could possibly have to offer.

After the funeral I felt a delicate hand wrap around mine, I didn't have to 
look
up to realize it was Usagi, her hands hadn't changed much over the years. I 
looked
up, but only briefly to give her a weak smile to let her know I appreciated 
the
gesture. My mind was so numb, crossed with fear, hatred, dismay...

"Chibi-Usa..." Usagi had said quietly, "I'm glad you're here..."

I stopped then, my frustration coming into play, "Are you, Usagi-chan?" I 
didn't
say it in annoyance, or even in a cruel way, but genuinely curious. "What 
good am
I... so young, it's true I'm better with my powers now, but what help are 
they in
this case?" I shook my head, squeezing my free hand into a tight fist to 
force away
any tears that threatened.

Usagi was still looking forward, gazing up a bit towards the sky. She looked 
so
very much like my mother then. Her hair all but completely silver now, in 
her
dark dress for the funeral. And when she looked down to me finally, I knew
she meant every word she said to me then.

"Chibi-Usa, you offer more help than you could ever guess. I was a mess
before you arrived. I know... I may have seemed very hasty to get you back 
to
the future - but it wasn't because I don't believe you can't help us. You 
could
help us a great deal, and I know you aren't a child any more. I just... want 
to
keep you safe." She leaned down slightly, not as much as she would have two
years ago, "I promise I'll do my best to save you all. I wish I could ensure 
that I'd
be able to keep all of you safe forever and beyond... I feel there is no 
promise
in that, though. All I can offer is my best, and that's all I ask from you 
in return."

I didn't say anything for a few moments. It made sense, of course it did. 
But
I was speechless. I just looked slightly up to her, smiled a little, and 
gave her
a small kiss on the cheek. She seemed very content in that, and so was I. It
was amazing to me, right then to really see how much she and I had both
grown.

And so we continued walking. Mamoru had come behind us, gently putting
his hand around Usagi's waist, and the other gently on my shoulder. A 
family.
We felt like a family.. a very miserable family at the moment..

I could see Rei from the corner of my eye. She was walking slowly behind us 
all, glancing
back now and again to watch for only a moment or two as they shoveled gravel
over her grandfathers small coffin, now deep in the very earth we were all 
fighting so
hard to proctect. She wouldn't get better on her own. Being my curious self, 
I had
to wonder what was going through her mind. I didn't know any of the senshi 
as
much as I would have liked to believe I did. But I knew now was the time to 
learn,
as though it were the only chance I had left - I wasn't about to ignore it. 
I would
be Rei's family, we all would.

I slipped away from my future parents, and gained looks of understanding as 
I
moved towards Rei, and gently slipped my hand into hers without saying a 
word.
It was warm, her hand, but different from Usagi's, not as soft. I suppose 
because
of all the work she does at the shrine. I hoped she knew even if I was only 
13 years
old, I was there for her if she needed me, and I always would be. We walked 
in
silence the entire way to Makoto's home.

There wasn't a battle that day. And I hoped there wouldn't be for some
time to come.

Then again, this day in age, when do dreams ever really come true?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Setsuna~

I can see everything happening. Even in death I can feel the strong pain
in my heart while as a spirit I float above them all, watching everything
unfold. Why couldn't I have prevented this? Would I have lived if I had
stayed at my post in the Time Gate? What a fool I have been. Knowing
little - yet enough to perhaps prevent it all from turning into this horrid
battle.

The Dark Knight had caught me offguard with the final blow I received
from him. It came so fast I didn't even have a second to call out the small
phrase to stop time and end it all. Either way I would be dead, so why
couldn't I have died, saving them all?

And here, my princess fought, half her friends were slowly dying, my
friends. I could see them all, my little Hotaru, Chibi-Usa... Gods what
would I give to save them now! And I have a long while before being
reborn as the mistress of time, if ever again. I know in my heart if Usagi
wins this battle, I will return to them all at some point in time. When?
Now that is a secret not even I could answer.

If I had a human body, and a lip to bite, I would have done it now, as
my princess stumbled to her knees by the blow of our enemy. An enemy
I had known, along with the rest of the senshi, for a very long time. From
a time when the Queen was still sitting upon her throne in the moon
kingdom. Yes, I knew our enemy, and remembered them well. More
than I truly cared to.

And how I could've ever felt comfortable, and so... wrongly sure that
this enemy had died under Serenity's crystal once before, I couldn't
understand. How could we have all been so wrong? How could I have
been wrong. My only duty is to know things, know anything and
everything - and before now I couldn't even tell them who our enemy
was.

And now we could all very well possibly die, like myself, and Rei had
already.

It would be all my fault...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wish no to dwell on any battle of the past, not only because I could not 
help
fight in many, but because only one stands fresh in my dead mind.

The final battle. This battle. The one that I am no longer a participant of,
but only the soul of a woman who wishes to see her princess triumph over
evil as she has so many times before. But I won't talk about now, but what
I can remember up to the point when I was struck down.

It almost seems unfair, I was given so little time to react to my death. So
little time to linger and hold on - too little time to even whisper. Yet all
my life, my long, solitary life - has revolved around time. Endless time -
yet at the single most important point in my life when I could have really
used an extra second... I was denied by time. Ironically fitting, it would
seem. Sick, twisted irony. I never did like it much.

The battle... yes. Surprisingly, we went there in high spirits. With more
confidence than we'd ever carried into battle. Having believed we'd finally
trapped The Dark Knight in this magical void, with very few of the knight's
minions to help fight for the evil side.

Gods were we ever wrong. There was an endless train of them. The Dark
Knight would all but whisper in the eerie voice he possessed, which sounded
nothing close to human, just another trick up his thick sleeve, and ten more
slashing swordsmen would emerge. All the while desperately slicing through
the air.

Haruka, being the most eratic, was sadly the first to go down I remember 
watching
her go directly for their leader, and quickly find herself surrounded by 
three
swordsmen. She called upon her own sword, and indeed she was very fast, very
impressive with her mark and cut. But not fast, nor impressive enough. I 
could just
possibly cry if I had the tears to shed as I tell this. She went down, a 
very neatly
placed cut carried from her chest to her belly button. I had seen it, and so 
had
others, cries emitting from us all as we rotated as many attacks as we could 
to the
beasts who'd done this to our comrade.

They continued slashing at her until the last one of them had fallen. And I
could see in her eyes she knew she couldn't stand to fight, even if she 
wanted
to.  Michiru's eyes were ablaze, the kind, calm that always surrounded her
raged - turning in a flurry, like an ocean trapped in a typhoon. She fought, 
for her
love, for their lives. And with blind hatred and anger. I have to wonder if 
a single
one of us didn't fight with anger and hatred. Would it be possible? Perhaps 
that was
our biggest mistake. And we paid dearly, one by one. Even Usagi was angry, 
it was
all she could do to try and make her crystal appear, and it would - in 
spurts, destroy
a few here - then hide away again for a few breathless moments while her 
soulmate
fought desperately with his own powers.

They were so beautiful together in battle. I know that sounds rather... dark 
of me.
But gods, the way they moved together, destroying evil left and right in a 
team that
we senshi couldn't begin to match. They were beautiful.

I saw Ami and Makoto fall next. Poor Ami-chan, she'd felt the slice of a 
sword twice
rip through her skin now. And the wound at her side I knew was fatal. 
Makoto, her
energy zapped. She'd fought very long, and very hard. And all she had left  
was her
body. Her fists, and her legs. And she did good for a time with just those. 
But it was
no match to the swords our enemies carried.

I knew I had tears in my eyes, and I know everyone else had them as well. 
And we
were not even granted the time, damn time again, to say goodbye to our 
friends, our
companions. They simply fell, as we continued on. I felt no comfort in their 
souls
flying to somewhere beyond here, in heaven where no doubt they belonged. 
What if
there was no heaven? These demons were allowed to be here, to destroy lives 
left and
right, and still good falls? What heaven could grant that, I found myself 
wondering
admist my own battles. What heaven indeed.

Rei's fall was heart breaking. She'd tried so hard, these past two weeks 
since the
funeral to be the best in the battles, to fight, and never fail us in 
destroying any of
the creatures we fought. To ensure not a single one of us was injured. And 
as a sword
ripped directly through her midsection, the scream she let out was not 
entirely one of
agony. But one of pain beyond that. A pain that all of us understood - the 
pain of
failure. The pain of being useless, of dying before saving everyone. The 
pain of the
failure she felt she did to her grandfather, and now the failure she did to 
us. And I
wished then I could drop to my knee's and sob for her. I questioned stopping 
time,
but I could not. If Usagi won, we could all still live. And there were too 
many now to
risk my own life, and risk Usagi, and the others. If I died, I would be no 
good to
destroy all the enemies that fall before us now. I couldn't help... and by 
the gods we
needed all we could get. And so I hesitated.

Hesitation, what a silly thing. One second changed my life, or shall I say 
took it? That
was all it took. One simple second. As I threw my hands about my staff and 
screamed
in a rage I didn't know I could ever contain at 3 monsters across from me 
nearing
Chibi-Usa, I felt cold steel slide across my neck.

I couldn't breathe, I couldn't speak, only choke on my own blood. The horror 
in
Chibi-Usa's eyes was all I saw as I stumbled backwards, to the cold ground. 
Not even
feeling a second sword pierce through what I guess was my stomach, though I 
couldn't
honestly tell you, because I could feel nothing.

All fell black. And Setsuna... me... the senshi of time, died.

Gods help them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Depressing, I know... but that's the end of chapter 5! Only 1 or 2 chapters 
left guys,
and you finally get to find out who it is!!! But not until then :)

So... what did you think?
dreemwrld@hotmail.com
I don't bite! Promise ;)