Why'd I even bother? It's three in the morning, the only thing up is sleaze-monsters that need to get dusted! Luna was already awake and by the window waiting for her, and with a quick whispering of her transformation phrase, Serena was no more. It was Sailor Moon who leaped out the window and charged down the street, ready to take on anything that dared to threaten her world.

As she headed out the window, Luna keeping up a low but steady stream of complaints, she didn't notice the soft shadow by the door. A quiet voice spoke softer than a whisper from there. "Good luck in battle, my daughter."

She looked nothing as she had in her last life. Though the Sailor Scouts had reincarnated precisely as they had once looked, she had deliberatly changed herself to look different. Though she loved her daughter with all her soul, she wanted Serena to grow up as independent as she could, and that wouldn't be possible if she had had any inkling of her destiny. At least, not until the right time.

The mature woman moved quietly until she was in front of a mirror. Slowly she reached out and touched the silvery surface of it for a moment. Something seemed to ripple, and instead of the woman of the twentieth century, someone very different stood there reflected. Someone tall and regal, clad in a gown of silver, with long twin ponytails of purest white spilling down from two balls on top of her head.

Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom stood there. "Oh, my dearest Serena," she whispered softly. "If only you knew." She had seen the slight distance between her and Serena since the young superheroine had learned of just who and what she really was in it's entirety, and knew it was because Serena felt a strong connection to her past. She sort of had to, it was the source of her powers and where her one true love had begun.

But with that connection to the past had come a near-severence of her present. Serena still loved her family, but the fact that they supposedly knew nothing of her 'night life' was somewhat of a barrier between them. If only I could tell her the truth. That I am her mother, Queen Serenity, and that I have been the one guiding her when she has needed me. But her knowing that would change how she acts around me, as sad as it can be at times. She must remain as normal as she can, until . . .until the time comes when she does what she must do.

Serenity sighed. When the Imperium Silver Crystal had sent all the souls of all the people of the Silver Millenium to Earth, it had taken the last bit of her strength to send Luna and Artemis with them. Her own last wish, however, had been that she be there as well, to watch over the daughter she loved so much. Though she had believed she'd never see Serena again, her wish had held all the strength and love of a dying mother. She felt the Crystal had understood that somehow, even in it's splintered state, and had granted that wish.

She had been born earlier than the other currently reincarnated souls, however. She had to be, in order to do what she had wanted for so long. And unlike the others, she was born with the full knowledge of who she was, who she had been, and what was going to happen in the future. She had lived her life out in peace, knowing that war was coming again all too soon.

When she had seen her newborn daughter for the first time, and seen how she was the mirror image of the child she had once held over a thousand years, she had known without a shadow of a doubt that this would be the future Queen of the world. And I had to raise her a normal girl. Because only that kind of education would give her what she's going to need. I had to teach her how to love. And she learned so well. So very well.

A tear fell down her cheek, one she quickly wiped away. There would be other times for tears. For tonight, she had to return to her bed and to her husband. Just as Serena had her Darien forever, so she had had the one who had always been by her side. Unlike her, he did not remember who he was and probably never would. Quietly she shifted herself back to the image of the modern day wife and mother. As she walked back to her room, she paused briefly by Sammy's door. A new soul. With no life behind him and nothing but potential ahead of him. I love you as I love my daughter, and I hope you know that. I love you, my son.

Slowly she returned to her room, and laid down, her eyes closing. She would not sleep, however, until she knew that Serena was back home safely. I trust her. I trust them all. Be brave, champions of the Solar System. Be brave. I love you, Princess Serena. Serena. Sailor Moon. They're all you. And I love you all. What mother could not?

The End