SAILOR MOON ETERNAL
The 6th Season of the Sailor Moon Saga
By Haruka Kou
Part Five
Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation and DIC
First total darkness. Then 3 small lights shoot across the wide expanse of space, growing closer and closer to their target. The closer they came to it the surer they were that something awaited them there, something new, something exciting.
Robin had always had, for as long as he could remember, this strange ability to sense things on a higher level than a normal person, to be able to somehow "feel" when something was about to occur. And as his consciousness soared through space, he knew that that "something" was finally happening. His dream still echoed through his mind. That dream that turned his world upside down. In a trance, he suddenly realizes that it's been too long, he couldn't see it. Are we lost? My brothers rely on me. Focus, focus, I must guide us there, he thinks, I've forgotten how hard star travel is, how much it consumes you. Where is it?, he struggles, I can't find it! We should be seeing it by now! A feeling of dread overwhelms him, of being lost, with no where to go, which way is up, which way is down?
I'm drowning, drowning, in my dream again. Where am I? I'm lost, I'm never going to get there IÉ he lifts his eyes, there's a bluish light! I'm swimming towards it. I'm drifting closer, closer, it's her! She's saying something, I can almost make it out. It's my name!
'Robin, Robin', she whispers, 'come to me'
'I'm here,' he shouts out in his mind. I can see her, so beautiful, so elegant, I know her, I've always known her, she reaches her hand out for mine, I take itÉ.
"It is quiet tonight," a tall young woman muses to herself, looking out a window as she brushes an errant strand of short golden hair from her face. It was the kind of night she liked&emdash;quiet meant no danger&emdash;and she'd seen more than her share of that despite her young age. But still she felt restless, uneasy with the calmness of late. At times her soul longed to be wild and free like the wind, for she was the wind. In quiet moments, like these when she could hear the wind whistling through the trees, she ached to be part of it, to let it take her away, for the wind was part of her, as much a part of her as Michelle was.
Alex knew people sometimes didn't understand their relationship, that they'd turn their bond with each other into something it was not. But other people didn't matter, she and Michelle knew what they had, what they meant to each other and that was all that mattered. Michelle mattered. She was the calm in Alex's wild soul, Alex the strength in Michelle's orderly one. They complimented each other's weaknesses and strong points, were more than friends, more than just cousins, their souls were forever linked, a partnerships that would last through eternity. It went beyond anything earthly, a spiritual bonding that few people ever had.
Alex smiles to herself shaking away the feeling of uneasiness and joins her companions in the living room.
Susan glances up from her paperwork as Alex enters the room. The two acknowledged each other with a simple nod. As Susan returns to her work she regards her friend. The two of them had never been very close, and would never have become friends if destiny had not brought them together. No two women could be more different: Susan with her calm and serene demeanor, Alex and her wild temperament. She watched as Alex and Michelle chatted leisurely on the couch and, for a moment, envied their closeness. For Susan stood apart from all others, loneliness her only true companion. She spent so many long years in solitude that most would think she was cold and unfeeling. No one knew her secret. No one knew her longing. No one knew her passion. Maybe all the years in loneliness only fueled her passion more&emdash;this passion to love and be loved, to always have him near, to never be alone again. It was her secret wish, a burning desire that no one would ever know about. Time had sealed her away from a life like that. But no matter how all-encompassing it is, even time could never take away a woman's dreams. And in all her dreams, Susan sees him. Her forbidden dream, the man she longs for, the one with those alluring eyes. Those entrancing eyes that call to her, those beautiful eyes that smile only for her. Those violet eyes that haunt her every dream. She recalls the time, not so very long ago, when she had "officially" changed her millennia-old name, Trista, to the more modern Susan. She had done this as a small gesture to try to become more a part of this new world Time had given her another chance with. When Tara was given to their charge, Time had allowed her a certain amount of freedom from the Doorway, letting her live in peace on earth, as a part of a close knit family, together with Alex, Michelle and little Tara. Once Susan had begun living this "normal" life with them, she found herself still to be distant, set apart. Alex, Michelle and now even Tara had been reborn, changed from their Millennia selves. No longer were they only the 1000 years ancient Princesses of Uranus and Neptune, but now they were Alex and Michelle, race car driver and concert violinist. Princess Trista, destined to guard the Doorway of Time for eternity, had never "died" so long ago, and so had never been reborn in this era. She was an ancient, as old as Time. How she longed for her own "jewel" to have shined twice, as the others all did. They belonged here now. In this century. In this time. Susan had longed to partake of this, and attempted to change her whole outlook. She changed the ancient name of Pluto's Princess Trista to Susan de Venici, learned to sketch and design fashions as her "career" and become a sort of mother to Tara. Yet still, after all this, something ached in her heart, something or someone she could not quite placeÉ..
Even if I knew who you were, dream-giver, I could not be with you. So maybe it is better I do not know, Susan sighs sadly to herself, butÉ.I will dream of you still.
Michelle smiles absently as her friend comments on the local news, lost in her own thoughts. What's wrong with me? She thinks to herself, why do I feel so strange? It's this vision, I'm sure of it. This dream I keep having over and over, always the same. I don't understand. Someone's calling to me, I am adrift on the ocean. I hear him again, yes, it is a man's voice&emdash;familiarÉoh, who can it be? If only I could see him! All is see is light&emdash;a vivid green light behind him. What can this possibly mean? She sighs. Visions are important. With them, I can see sight beyond sight, I can know things beyond knowledge, I can feel things beyond feeling. Why is this vision different from all the others? Why does it feel soÉsoÉHer thoughts trail off as another presence once again enters her mind, calling to her, whispering to her, reaching out to her. In a dream, she walks out of the house. In a daze she looks towards the heavens, standing perfectly still, and closes her eyes.
"Michelle", Alex asks worriedly as her friend abruptly gets up and walks out the door. She and Susan exchange confused glances and follow her outside.
"Michelle, whatÉ?" Alex begins, then she stops suddenly in mid-sentence, her eyes unfocus, her stance readies. "The wind is changing." She announces conclusively. She directs her gaze upward, her eyebrows furrowed.
"Something is coming," the youngest member of the household announces softly as she runs out in her nightgown. Susan looks from Tara to Alex and then to Michelle who suddenly raises both her arms in a welcoming gesture, her hands reaching out to some unknown force in the darkness, a dreamy smile on her lips. "I'm here," she whispers, barely audible and the others turn to her, wondering what was to come.