Please keep that in mind the fact that this story is manga 
related.  

I've decided to use English translation names for the Inner Senshi and 
Japanese names for the Outer, since I have no clue 
as to what their English translated names are.  And Haruka and Michiru are 
only close friends not gay.
It only makes it easier for me to write.

This story is rated PG, well some slight violence and maybe language later 
on.  Well, enough of my babbling! On with the show!

Usual disclaimers:  Sailor Moon and all its characters and likeliness 
belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha/Toei.  English translation is made 
possible by DiC. 

My email address:  ml_eclipse@hotmail.com

<< >> = thoughts
[ ] = author's note

More Author's note at bottom.  I advise that those who do not 
like this chapter or the way I portray Sailor Cosmos here 
to please read the note at the bottom.  And those who do 
like it, well you have a choice.  Thanks! Enjoy!] 
===================================================

Serenity's Legend     written by cosmos

Part VII:    True Identity

"I am known as Sailor Cosmos, soldier of mists, guardian of all 
of universal space and time."
Her beautiful voice pierces the crisp night air like a beam of 
light through clear crystal.  The others gasp in surprise.  They 
have heard of this legendary warrior from the Asteroid Soldiers, 
but they never believed it to be true, nor did they ever expect 
to come face to face with this mysterious being.

[Asteroid Senshi are Sailor Soldiers from the Asteroid belt.  They 
are at first the Amazoness Quartets whom were destroyed and turned 
into crystals which Serenity revived into the Asteroid Senshis.  
They are not in the Anime.  They were the ones who last saw Cosmos 
in the Manga, so they knew of her existence.  Sorry for such a long 
author's note.]

Silence enveloped the group like a thick London fog.  The atmosphere 
is uneasy and there seems to be tension hanging in the air like a 
delicate silk web spun by an invisible spider.  Taking a hesitant 
step forward, her heel clicks on the ground releasing the 
prisoners from the hold of silence, Sailor Venus speaks in an 
unsure voice, "Y-you are the legendary soldier?" she whispers 
in awe.  "Have you come to help us free Serena?" Then silence 
captures them all again.  Though it was only for a brief moment, 
it seemed like an eternity before they hear the figure in white
reply.

Her voice is like the soft caressing of a breeze, yet her 
words are like daggers in the night, "I
* really * don't have a choice do I?" She speaks bitterly.  
"If I don't, the future ahead will be changed." And she gives 
Sailor Pluto a sharp glance, adding in a poignant tone, "Though 
I wish it would."

"Wha-what do you mean?" Sailor Neptune questions in great concern.  
At this point Cosmos can no longer hold back her emotions.  
All the pain, the sorrow, the suffering she has seen and has felt 
locked deep within her now icy heart spills out in great bitterness 
and frustration…against herself.

"What I mean," she yells in anger, but her voice only relays sorrow 
and anguish, "is that I
*want * the future to change! I * want * it all to end!"  In a 
quieter voice, she repeats broken hearted the last phrase, barely 
audible to the group staring at her in bewilderment not seven feet 
away, "I want it all to end.  All the pain, the sufferings, 
the destruction…the…the deaths." Her eyes now brimming with tears, 
tears that she refuses to spill.

Suddenly, Jupiter's voice is heard thundering back at her, 
"That's why we * must * save Sailor Moon, " she shouts angrily.  
"*She* is the one who can stop all this.  *She* is the one who 
can bring light to the darkness.  In the future she--"

"--is the cause of all this!" Cosmos cries, cutting Jupiter 
off in surprise.  "Can't you see? The future is not what you 
think it will be.  It never is.  It is * not * the all utopian 
world of Crystal Tokyo! It will be the darkness where only Chaos 
exists.  Sailor Moon had a chance back at the Cauldron of the 
Stars to end the Sailor Wars, but she didn't.  Instead, she chose 
to believe that she could create a brighter future, that she 
had the capability to do so.  She thought she had the strength to 
defeat the darkness and bring forth the light.  But she is wrong."  
Cosmos turns aside and says in a lower tone full of regret, 
"…so very wrong.  What had she done, but bring only more suffering 
to the ones she loves?  It is because of her…her * damn * power 
that always lures the darkness."

"YOU ARE WRONG!" Mars screams in hysteria.  "YOU ARE SO *DAMN* WRONG!
She is not at all what you say she is! She is kind, considerate, 
full of life and laughter and she gives others her light freely 
without a care.  Even though you're the strongest Sailor Soldier, 
you are *nothing* compared to her.  She is *more* than what 
you will *ever* be!"  Mars yells in great anguish, tears streaming 
down her face uncontrollably.  Her body shakes with the rage 
that she feels against this being, this insolent soldier who 
dares to scorn her dearest friend.

Sailor Pluto looks at Sailor Cosmos with indescribable sadness 
on her face.  She can see very well that each word Mars throws at 
her causes Cosmos to flinch and withdraw upon herself.  Unbeknownst 
to Mars that each word let fly in rage is like daggers tearing 
at Cosmos' soul.  Yet, Cosmos yells back, rage now controlling 
her…and guilt.  Guilt that none of them knew except her.  She 
blames herself for all her friends' death.  She had sworn to 
protect them, yet they died, and because of what? Because of her 
and now in a fit of rage she brings out that guilt that have so 
long haunted her.

"Why do you care for her?" Cosmos yells in blind anger.  "She 
brings nothing to you but pain and suffering.  You have risked 
your lives time and time again for her…and why?…Because she is 
too weak…too much of a coward to defend herself and you.  If it 
weren't for her you all would be living happy peaceful lives like 
everyone else, pursuing your own dreams and desires.  Instead she 
dragged you into this.  She dragged you into her cursed destiny 
with her!"

"No!" This time it is Mercury who speaks up in defense.  "NO! You 
are SO wrong!  If it weren't for her we all would still be imprisoned 
in our own loneliness.  The emptiness would have shriveled our 
souls now if she had not shown up.  She is my friend…She is the 
only friend I had ever had!" Mercury cries in a voice that any who 
heard would have dropped to their knees in tears.  In a lost tone, 
Mercury says, "She is the only *real* friend any of us had ever had."

Still blind to the words thrown at her, Cosmos cries, "I should 
have known from the start that a klutz, a crybaby, an idiot, a fool 
could not be the saviour of this world."

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Uranus roars.  "I have had *enough* of 
this! How dare you call yourself a Sailor Soldier?  You are nothing 
but a coward.  A fool scared to face her own destiny."  Uranus stood 
trembling with tremendous internal rage.  Suddenly she raises her 
hand and light begins to gather in it.  "Now you won't have to run 
away from your destiny anymore…" Uranus says in a voice of ice, 
"because it will end here! Uranus World Shake!" 

"Noooo!" Pluto yells, but it is too late, Uranus has released her 
attack.  The orange ball of energy flies at lightning speed directly 
at Cosmos.  "Cosmos! Get out of the way!" Pluto screams, but her 
scream is left unheard by the figure in white.  She simply stood 
there, her gaze never leaving Uranus' burning blue ones.  
Something in that calm sad gaze made Uranus' heart lurch in 
anguish…something like…like…forgiveness? Is she asking for forgiveness?  
Why? Suddenly, Uranus regrets what she has done, but it is too late.

Even though she has all the ability to dodge the attack, Cosmos 
simply stood there with unspeakable sorrow on her beautiful face as 
she took the attack directly in the chest.  The hit causes her to be 
thrown back several feet.  She lay there for a moment as her head 
slowly clears from the dizziness that now encloses on her.  Slowly 
she gathers her trembling legs beneath her body and attempts to stand.  
"Cosmos!" Pluto begins to run toward her, but Cosmos raises her 
hand and tells her to stop.

"D-d-don't…come any closer," She barely whispers out, her chest 
heaving in pain with each intake of breath.  "P-please…don't come 
any closer."  Then looking at the others again, she suddenly 
catches Darien's fiery blue gaze.  She notices his fist clenched 
white at his side.  She locks her gaze to his and speaks in painful 
gasps, "S-she…*is* a meatball head…who doesn't deserve you."

Her words have an immediate effect as she can see the flames of rage 
lurch into a bonfire of hatred in his cold blue stare.  Suddenly, a 
steel tipped red rose appears in his hand and he throws it directly 
at her.  Again she makes no attempts to move.  The rose whizzed 
closer and lodges its sharp dagger deep into her arm.  This time 
she cries out in pain, not from the wound in her arm but from the 
one in her heart.  Tears begin to stream down her rosy cheeks as 
she clutches the bleeding arm with her other hand.  Then everything 
seems to stop.  No one moves.  Even the wind appears to have halted 
in its journey around the world.  Complete silence and stillness 
fills the air around them.

Then as if everything has just slowed down the Sailor Soldiers see 
Cosmos close her eyes as her grip on the rose tightens.  Unexpectedly, 
with only a small cry Cosmos yanked the rose from her arm.  She 
opens her eyes and holds the rose directly in front of her face, 
looking at it as if enchanted by its beauty.  Suddenly, crimson blood 
oozes out from between her fingers and drips down the stem onto the 
ground already soaked in red.  Only then did Cosmos notice that there 
are thorns on the stem of the rose, puncturing her palm and making 
it bleed.  Yet her grip on the rose does not lighten.  Instead she 
raises the bloody flower to her face, closes her eyes again, and 
takes a deep breath, inhaling the rich fragrance.  A large single tear 
escapes between her closed eyelids and slides down her cheek.  The tear 
hangs onto the edge of her face like she is hanging onto the rose.  
Then the crystal tear rolls off her face and hits the ground at the 
same time she lets go of the rose, which also drifts to the bloody 
surface below.  Before the rose strikes the ground, a bright flash 
of light erupts from Cosmos' sigil on her forehead.  The female Soldiers 
and Darien quickly shield their eyes in order to prevent the intense 
light from blinding them.  When they look back, the white figure has 
vanished, leaving only a faint trail of glittering stardust and small 
white feathers behind.  The red rose lays floating on the surface of a 
small pool of blood on the ground.

"W-where did she go?" Neptune voices.  "What happened just now?"
Instinctively, Sailor Mars turns her dark raging eyes toward the 
Guardian of Time who stands silently staring at the space formerly 
occupied by Cosmos.  "You have a lot of explaining to do," Mars 
whispers in an icy tone.  The others look at Mars in surprise, then 
at Pluto.

"Who was she?" Darien speaks blankly; his voice has lost all emotions.  
Then turning his icy blue stare toward Sailor Pluto, he directs the 
question to her, "Who was she? Who is she really?"  His cold commanding
voice snaps her attention to him.  She recognizes this tone as that 
of King Endymion's.  She knows she has no options but to answer his 
question.

"Sailor Cosmos…is Neo-Queen Serenity."

Everyone gasps in shock.  Darien's eyes widen in horror as color 
leaves his face. He lets his gaze slip from Pluto's saddened face 
to his hands.  "W-w-what…have…I done?" He breathes.  The image of 
his rose piercing into her arm and her crying out in pain flashes in 
his eyes.  "What have I done?" he cries as tears drift down his 
cheeks.  "What have I done?!" He yells falling to his knees, his fist 
pounding lightly on the ground.  "I…I've hurt her.  I can't believe 
what I had done.  I should have known…that gaze…those beautiful blue 
eyes…I should have known it was her.  God! What have I done?" He 
whispers to himself, barely audible to those near him.  Uranus too 
stares at the empty air in front of her.  The image of her attack hitting 
Cosmos, sending her flying backward in the air, flashes repeatedly 
in her mind.  "No…no…no…" Uranus gasps in disbelief.

"Where is she?" a voice rises from the ground.  Pluto looks down 
at Darien, who still has his head buried to the ground.  "Where is 
she?" He asks again, his voice like the wind in a sail.  "Damnit!" 
He shouts in anger and anguish, "Tell me where the hell she has gone to!"

"Come…follow me.  I will take you to her," Pluto says in a gentle 
voice.  He rises to his feet and they all followed the dark green hair 
figure ahead of them as she leads them to their destiny.
===============================================
[All right, if you're reading this you are probably itching to 
hit me, BUT before you do, let me explain.  Just keep in mind 
that I *like* Sailor Cosmos, okay? I am not making her look weak 
and pitiful or anything.  For those who read the end of the Sailor 
Moon Manga (I did via internet translation) you would probably 
noticed that Cosmos is a bit disturbed by a battle in the future.  
>From what I understand this might be what she is feeling, a 
feeling of guilt or something or other.  She has a heavy burden of 
responsibility to carry on her shoulders because she is the guardian
of the cosmos.  But through the long years of warfare her soul and mind
begins to get tired under all that weight.  Seeing her friends and allies
die before her eyes only caused her more pain and sorrow.  Since she has
been alone for who knows how long because everyone else is dead, she has
to bury her feelings deep inside her where it slowly builds up to unbearable
proportions.  Seeing her friends die and not being able to stop it,
she feels a sense of guilt and anger at herself.  At the end of the 
Manga, Serena said that she will protect her friends, so now that
she has found she is unable to do so, she is frustrated, confused and alone
to bear her guilt and grief.  This would result in her outburst in this
part of the story.  Does that make any sense?  
Besides, my entire story won't be like this part it will get better 
and not so depressing.
Anyway, the next chapter is the opposite of this one.  
You'll see what I mean.]

So what do you think? Please email and tell me.  I love to hear 
from ya'.  Email me at ml_eclipse@hotmail.com.  All right…next 
chapter coming soon.]