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Diamohns are Forever	By : SailorSol Category: Sailor Moon > General Views: 22490 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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CHAOS CONTAINED

Once outside, they jumped effortlessly to the top of the wall surrounding the house, and then leapt to a tall tree across the street.

They followed treetops and rooftops to the edge of the chaos zone, coming to rest on the roof of the temple. Below them, behind the temple, they could see Rei's grandfather tending the fire shrine. He had a circle of braziers around the shrine, and was burning enough incense to make details of the shrine indistinct to someone in normal time. To the Senshi and Kishi, it was as if the shrine itself was wrapped in a thin veil of cotton wool, making it difficult to see anything at all.

Sol took a firm hold on her nerves and leapt from the temple roof, coming to a landing about five yards from the actual perimeter of the chaos zone. She heard Pluto land behind her and was grateful for his silent support and she stepped closer to the field. Inside, she could see hints of the twisted things she had seen previously, when they had attempted this nine months before.

She closed her eyes to shut out what was in front of her and reached out for the connections that kept her reminded of what worth fighting for. One at a time, she touched Sailor Neptune, Kishi Saturn and Sailor Uranus, her soul-bonded lovers. Finally, she reached for the surest and strongest bond, the planet bond with her partner. As she did, she felt her lovers reach for their planet partners, who reached for their soul-bonded lovers, who reached for planet partners, until all of them were interconnected in a huge intangible web that made it possible to touch anyone at any time. For the first time, even though she could not see anyone else, Sol knew that there was no way any of them would ever be alone again.

As the contact became clearer, Sol raised her hands one to either side, and signaled the others to do the same.

All at once, a containment field sprang up around the chaos zone. The field changed color midway between each of its living anchors, but it was stable and strong, stronger than it had been before.

"Now, Pluto," Sol said, knowing that everyone else in the web heard her command. From behind her, she felt power begin to surge, as if it were a stream of water, flowing to the chaos zone. She forced herself to watch, and quickly saw the activity within the zone speed up, moving nearly four times as fast.

//Now,// she sent her thought to the others. //Forward, one step at a time.//

At the very first it was easy; then they came into physical contact with the chaos field itself. Along with contact came pain: the pain of their reality warping without rhyme or reason, and of that warping force being pushed back, and of it fighting, then fighting back.

Nobody knew who made the first comment. Sol thought it might be Sailor Jupiter, but it could have been any of the Kishi, as well.

//This hurts worse than getting a broken jaw,//

//It hurts worse than getting busted in the nuts,// Kishi Sol retorted.

//I can think of things that hurt worse,// Kishi Neptune chimed in. The sight and sensation of what he and Sailor Sol had shared when Sailor Neptune's hands had been broken rippled through the web. There were many objections and exclamations of disgust.

//I can't,// Sailor Uranus joined the conversation. //Being thrown off my bike without leathers on didn't hurt this bad.// The picture that involuntary accompanied that thought brought hisses of shared pain from the other Senshi and whistles of mixed admiration/sympathy from the Kishi.

//Maybe we should think of what feels better than this,// Sailor Neptune chimed in. //Like laying in bed on a rainy morning, making love.// The imagery that followed her thought was both suggestive and graphic at the same time, involving the sight of Sean's face framed by the skylight above their futon in the back house, and the sensation of being entered by him and touched on two sides by other hands at the same time.

//What have we been missing?// Sailors Mars and Venus exclaimed together.

//Saturn, you lucky man!// Kishi Jupiter said. //Tell me, ladies, did any of you ever hear that variety was the spice of life?//

//Funny, Jupiter,// Sol retorted. //If variety is the spice of life, then we've all emptied the seasoning rack in the last year, haven't we?//

//Not quite,// Terra put in from where she was. //After all, some of you have been downright exclusive.//

//That is something nobody could accuse Sol of,// Kishi Sol finally injected his comment. His reward was a sharp 'poke' from his partner.

//Oh, I don't know,// Kishi Mars responded sourly. //She would not go out with me.//

//That's because you're too arrogant by half, my dear Mars,// Sol responded. //I abhor arrogant men.//

//So, Sol,// Sailor Venus came right to the point. //You've had more of them than anyone else. Who's the best?//

//It's not like we haven't all had ample opportunity,// Sol responded, then considered the question.

//Sol, don�t answer that!// came a chorus of Kishi 'voices,' each one threatening a different kind of retribution if she did.

//How could I?// she finally replied. //I could only render an opinion if I had a proper frame of reference, and that would require sleeping with all of the guys. I've only slept with six, counting Pluto.//

//Which six?// Mars and Venus asked in unison. Sol was pleased that they had forgotten their pain, so she distracted them further with jumbled, kaliedescopic images drawn mostly from the last six months.

~*~*~*~

And so it went. The further forward they pushed the containment, the greater the pressure on them to fall back, and the greater the pain.

The strain on the two Plutos was immense, but they knew that the strain on the attacking Senshi and Kishi was even greater. Still, Sailor Pluto could not help but notice, a few hours in to the containment, that the facial expressions of those in the circle were altering. They were smiling, and blushing, and she even heard Kishi Sol chuckle.

She began to realize that, even though the last nine months had been a terrible ordeal, that the other Senshi and Kishi now shared an intimacy that excluded her. Before, she had remained separate from the Senshi, but still a part of them.

Now, she felt herself outside the gathering that had always sought to include her, despite her resistance. Her planet partner was not party to their rapport, either, but he had chosen to allow them to draw him in. He might be on the outside right now, but he would be a part of them when this was over. She would be alone, as always.

For the first time in ten thousand years, Sailor Pluto began doubting the wisdom of the choices she had made.

~*~*~*~

It wasn't until they reached the last of their struggle, both in terms of the size of the zone and their strength, that their easy banter began to falter. They were less than a finger's length from physically contacting one another when the chaos zone made a surge outward that threw them back a couple of feet. The sailor box faltered, but did not fail. From somewhere, collectively, all of them found the strength to surge forward several steps at once, and managed to link their fingers into each others.

The physical contact brought an extra surge of power that allowed them to surge forward again, until they were in contact from fingertip to elbow.

This was the crucial moment. This was the time that all of them had dreaded from the start. Sailor and Kishi Persephone stepped out of the perimeter and into the actual chaos zone itself, intent on fulfilling their ancient function. The others felt the imbalance in the box and felt the containment, bought with so much in energy and pain, falter. In the center, they felt something dark and sinister rejoice.

//NO!!!// the joint minds of the remaining Senshi and Kishi cried out in denial, feeling everything they had worked so hard for start to slip through their fingers.

Sol and Neptune, both Kishi and Senshi, reached for one another, desperate to reestablish the link and therefore the box. What Sailor Sol felt most was a sense of betrayal. Chiron was not there.

Suddenly, they were. A gauntleted hand took the hands of the two groping Senshi, reestablishing the link on their end. At the same time, delicate but strong hands joined the two Kishi, and a scent of cherry blossoms and pines wafted over the nostrils of the entire group, including the Plutos.

//Sorry about that,// Kishi Chiron�s 'voice' intoned. //We ran into a bit of trouble, and those Chaos creatures get angry when you try to leave their party.//

//We managed to talk them into it,// Sailor Chiron, a strong female presence, continued. //They simply forgot what they wanted us for. Let�s get this finished, so we have something to celebrate.//

//I know what you mean,// was the male Chiron�s reply. //I have the sea and the sun over here. What more could a man ask?//

//Permission,// came Sailor Neptune's pert reply.

//Absolutely,// Sailor Sol agreed.

//Always, My Lady,// was the overly courteous rejoinder, with a bit of humor behind it. //I would not want to have to choose between being drowned and roasted for my demise when the smallest bit of forethought would have kept me from such a fate.//

Sol could not see Sailor Chiron physically, but she mentally felt around the web until she encountered her. It was like plunging into a cave.

//You had me worried, Chiron,// Sol said. //I was afraid this was all for nothing.//

//We can discuss that later,// was the cool reply.

//Yes,// Sol agreed, noticing that Persephone had shrunk the chaos zone so that it was encompassed by their arms. She saw them clasp wrists tightly, then begin to hum, creating a tone that vibrated through all of the assembled Senshi and Kishi. Each of them in turn picked up the tone, and one at a time each Senshi's tiara jewel glowed and each Kishi's planet symbol glowed on his forehead. Persephone and the chaos were enclosed in a globe of power which took the power of the sailor box and made its own containment.

With a sudden flash and a concussive burst that knocked all of the fighters away and slid them backwards twenty feet across the rubble, the containment field, the chaos, and both Persephones vanished. All they left behind was an emaciated form of a man with long hair splayed around him, and two globes of light circling one another above him.

Carefully, the Senshi picked themselves up, gasping or hissing in pain as they discovered that exposed limbs had been badly abraded by their slide. They also noticed that the hair of all of them had grown considerably since they had begun the containment.

Sol's knee-length tresses now touched her ankles. Terra, Mars, and Venus all had hair trailing on the ground behind them. Neptune's shoulder-length waves were now past waist-length. Even Mercury's chin-length bob was at mid-back.

The Kishi were just as affected as the Senshi. Kishi Neptune's waist-length waterfall of hair was now halfway to his knees. Even Kishi Saturn, whose hair had been the shortest, now had shoulder-length curls.

Sol's attention was brought back to the balls of light when she felt their focus shift as they became larger and dropped slowly to the ground in front of her and Kishi Pluto.

When the lights touched the ground, there was a blinding flash, and where the lights had been there were a pair of perfectly formed, newborn babies, one boy and one girl.

Without even a thought, Sol knelt down and picked up the closest to her, the boy, and looked up at Kishi Pluto. He removed his cloak and held it carefully so that she could wrap the infant in it. Kishi Saturn came forward and offered his cloak for the other child.

After wrapping the second infant securely, Sol cradled her closely, looking down into the tiny face that blinked up at her, then closed its eyes and slept, in absolute trust that she would protect it and care for it. The other Senshi came forward to look at the infants, and Terra offered to carry one of them home.

"You might need a free hand," she pointed out. Sol agreed and handed the infant she was carrying over to Terra, then took the other infant from Kishi Pluto.

"One more thing needs to be done," Prince Endymion said, stepping over to the still-prone figure that was beginning to stir. He held out his hand to Sailor Moon, who stepped forward reluctantly, looking around for reassurance.

The other Senshi and Kishi resumed their places in the circle, surrounding the prone form and their Prince and Princess.

Sailor Moon took one good look at the man who lay before her and froze. She stared at him with such a fixed look of panic on her face that Sol immediately understood the problem. Carefully, mindful of the sleeping infant in her arms, Sol lowered herself to one knee.

"My Queen," she said, addressing Sailor Moon as she had only once before. "You can do this. I believe in you." As Sol spoke, the jewel in her tiara glowed with an intense yellow light, then she started to glow. Across from her, Kishi Sol had echoed her posture without thinking, and he also began to glow.

"My Queen," Terra said, kneeling as Sol had. "You can do this. I believe in you." The jewel in Terra's tiara began to glow violet, and she and Kishi Moon, across from her, began to glow silver.

One at a time, each of the Senshi and their partners knelt and acknowledged not only that Sailor Moon was their future queen, but their faith in her abilities and their loyalty to her. When all the other Senshi had knelt, the Plutos did as well, and the glow around all of the Senshi flared, then settled around Sailor Moon and Endymion, transforming her into Princess Serenity.

The Prince and Princess held her scepter over the prone figure and invoked the Moon Healing Activation, seeking to remove the nearly visible taint of evil from him. Under their power, a black cloud lifted from him, then disappeared. Another black cloud became visible, began to lift, then was sucked back into the man's body.

The man on the ground stirred, and then lifted his head. The face was nearly unrecognizable, but the voice that came out of the face as it looked at Sol was all too familiar to her.

"Aster," Takara's hated and feared voice whispered as the man pushed himself to his hands and knees, then rose to a kneeling position.

Sol, Terra, Endymion, and both Mars looked around them as they felt a surge of Dark Kingdom energy.

"She comes!" he cried out. "My queen has come for me!" He began laughing, an insane, maniacal laugh that made all of them cringe. Then, he disappeared, as if he had never been there.

Shaken, the Senshi gathered around their Princess, who was trembling in Endymion's arms. Sol watched the four Inner Senshi comfort her, then Uranus and Neptune, and then she stepped forward.

"We should go," Sol said quietly. "People are gathering."

"Yes," Princess Serenity said, drawing herself upright. She took the arm that Endymion offered, and the two of them began to walk away, heads high. In planetary pairs, the remaining Senshi and Kishi followed them, with Kishi Moon accompanying Sailor Terra.

At the edge of the crowd, a perimeter was being held by police officers in full riot gear and the Satellites that had gathered in the last nine months. The Satellites separated the crowd to give the Senshi and Kishi a way out, and the crowd voluntarily parted to form a kind of informal avenue for the departing fighters.

It began to sink in to people that the danger was past, and that they owed it to these twenty-four people who were parading past them. People began murmuring, then applauding. The applause grew louder, and younger individuals in the crowd began cheering.

When they reached the edge of the crowd, by unspoken agreement, the pairs split up and went in different directions for the trip back to their residence. Princess Serenity transformed back to Sailor Moon, and turned to catch the attention of Sailor and Kishi Chiron.

"Come with us," she said. They nodded, and when she and Endymion began leaping onto piles of rubble and stubs of buildings, they followed.

At the house, after detransforming, Aster immediately pulled out some of the supplies they had already obtained for the infants they were expecting. She unwrapped the infants and handed the cloaks back to Pluto and Saturn so they could resume their normal appearance. She thought furiously while she diapered and wrapped both babies, then looked up at everyone gathered in the living room.

"Vincent," she said. "Go drain one of the ofuro tubs, the one farthest from the door. That's the one with the thermostat reset to body temperature. After you drain it, scrub it like it had been fouled. Mamoru, go dig a hole in the garden, about two feet square, and at least three feet deep. Fill it back in, but make it really easy to find. 'Cinda, you call the closest operating hospital and report a home delivery. They're probably overrun right now, so it will even probably be a while before they send someone out to check the children. Michiru, get me the most conservative nightgown and robe I have. I think I have a long flannel set with long sleeves. That should do. Everybody else, go find a place to collapse."

Too tired to argue, most of the others turned and made their separate ways to different places to rest. Sean and Hotaru went down to the basement, where the constant low-level noise from the video games would help them. Haruka and Nathan went out the solarium door and into the garden, where they climbed into on of the tree platforms that were set up. Kojiro and Ami headed for the pool, as did Quentin. Mina and Martin headed for the backyard where they collapsed under a tree. Thomas and Usagi headed for the solarium, where they collapsed on a couch at the back of the large enclosure, well supplied with reflected light. Lita and Robert headed for the basement as well. Takagi collapsed into a chair next to Aster, while Setsuna said she would be back in a few days and left.

Sailor and Kishi Chiron, now transformed back to Hanaichi and Toshiro Tochi, and Kojiro's grandfather, sat down on nearby seats and waited while Aster's various orders were carried out.

"One would think you were the Princess," Hana said, smiling. Aster shrugged.

"I'm the most powerful," she said. "I'm also bossy and I keep a cool head on my shoulders, and I can make decisions quickly."

"So you got put in charge," Hana concluded.

Aster felt herself begin to relax and climbed out of her seat immediately to walk over to her sister.

"They're sending a pediatric nurse over," Lucinda said, putting down the phone. "She should be here soon."

"Good," Aster said. "I'm tired. Why don't you get some rest?"

"Not yet," Lucinda said. "When the nurse is gone. Aster, how are you going to explain giving birth in another six months?"

"I�m not," Aster said. "Somehow, I�m not pregnant anymore. I�m a bit surprised that it happened to me, and to nobody else, but I think those are my babies. Maybe it�s a combination of my planet power, the Dark Kingdom powers, and mine being the most recent pregnancy. Now, have I covered everything?"

"Everything except who's going to take care of the babies while you collapse," Lucinda said, turning in that direction. She smiled to see Kojiro's grandfather bent over the basket both babies had been placed in, lifting one of them in his arms.

"Maybe that will take care of itself," she mused.

Aster turned to see what she was talking about, then walked back over to where Jishin was gently bouncing the girl in his arms, a wide grin on his face.

"My first great-grandchild!" he said triumphantly. "You don't know how happy this makes me! What are you going to name them?"

"I'll name her Shinjuko," Aster said. "And I'll name the boy Ryu."

"Pearl and Dragon," Jishin mused, looking down at the tiny form in his arms. "That will do nicely. I will care for them while you recover from your ordeal. When you are ready, all of the news broadcasts from the last four days are recorded." He placed Shinjuko back in the basket, nodded to Hanaichi and Toshiro, and walked towards the kitchen.

"I am exhausted," Toshiro said. "How you lot kept that up for four days, I don't know. It was pretty exhausting doing it for the half day we did."

"Sleep where you like," Aster said. "If we keep to our elements, we tend to recover faster."

"Which is why people went in different directions," Hanaichi observed. "Chiron is the shadow planet."

"Shadow," Aster mused. "Well, if you two are most comfortable in the dark, then join Jupiter and Saturn in the basement."

"Why are they down there?" Toshiro asked, looking confused.

"Video games," Aster replied. "They emit higher level electrical fields, and noise. Jupiter needs the electrical field, and Saturn needs the sound."

"You're right," Hanaichi said, smiling.

Their conversation was interrupted by Michiru returning with the requested nightgown and robe, both of red cotton. Aster went to the bathroom to change and then checked in the kitchen to find Jishin reading the instructions on a can of powdered formula.

"Not that, Grandfather," she said. She retrieved a can of concentrated liquid formula from the cupboard and pulled out the components for making bottles.

"That is too complex for a newborn," she said. "We use this for now, until they're older. We start using the powder at about three months." She followed the instructions to dilute the formula for newborns, and then filled the necessary number of bottles. She set two aside, and put the rest in the refrigerator.

"I know how to warm food for infants," Jishin said. "Now that I know which formula to use, there should be no trouble."

"Yes, Grandfather," Aster replied, smiling. She heated the bottles in a pan of water, then took them back into the living room. She handed one bottle to Jishin, picked up Shinjuko, and walked over to her chair with the baby in her arms. By the time she sat down, she had gotten the bottle into the baby's mouth and was feeding her.

The nurse came and went without incident, taking their word for it that Aster had given birth in the tub that Vincent was scrubbing out, and that the afterbirth had been buried deeply in the back yard. She examined both infants, pronounced them perfect, and took down the information for the birth certificates, which she issued before leaving. She told Aster that if she ran a fever or experienced continuous cramps or any other pains in her abdominal area, she should come see a doctor immediately. Aster promised to keep an eye on her condition, and then watched while Lucinda saw the nurse out.

As soon as the nurse was gone, Lucinda and Aster bade Jishin good day and headed to the solarium. Aster stopped there, dropping onto a lounge next to Vincent, who had just finished with the tub and set it to refill. As if by instinct, their hands sought one another and their fingers loosely interlaced. The two of them lay, side by side, and absorbed the afternoon sunlight so vital to both of them.

Lucinda continued out to the neat rows of the garden, which had not been neglected while they had recuperated from their ordeal. By unspoken agreement, Lucinda and Mamoru lay down together on a patch of bare earth, as if laying down on a futon. He laid on his back, and she curled up next to him, her head on his shoulder. Almost in unison, the two sets of partners closed their eyes and finally surrendered to the blessed oblivion of sleep.

TBC
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Diamohns are Forever