Chapter 7

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Mamoru looked to Sailor Pluto, still holding Chibi-Usa. "Let me take her, Sailor Pluto...while you take care of Sailor Saturn." He said, gently taking the girl from Pluto's arms.

"Yes, your Highness." Pluto said, without thinking much.

"I told you not to call me that.." Mamoru said lightheartedly.

"My apologies, Your Highness..you will always be royalty to me...along with the Princess and Small Lady of course." Pluto said, smiling to him.

Uranus went quickly and took Sailor Moon from Starfighter. "You have no right to hold her to yourself." Uranus said quickly.

"Uranus...are you jealous too?" Neptune said playfully.

"No, of course not, senpai, but this outsider has no business.." Uranus said, being interrupted.

"We are all fighting for the same cause here, why do you have to go and call us outsiders?" Taiki broke out of nowhere. "That's an insult."

"Please, stop fighting..all of you.." Sailor Moon moaned out as she was coming to. Everyone ran to her side, with the exception of Pluto.

"Sailor Moon....how are you feeling?" Starfighter asked.

"I'm fine...how is Chibi-Usa??" She said, looking lovingly to the girl.

"I think she is a little more worn out than you were, Usako." Mamoru said, still holding her.

"Um...Sailor Moon...can I talk to you?" Starfighter asked.

"Yes..." she said, dehenshining back to Usagi.

"Mamo-chan...take Chibi-Usa back to your apartment..I will follow in a bit." Usagi said, smiling to him. She put her hand on Chibi-Usa's head and kissed her cheek gently.

She walked toward Starfighter, who on the way, dehenshined back to Seiya. He looked around, not hearing any objections to his request to talk to him.

Uranus was giving him a dirty look. Taiki and Yaten were heading back to their apartment, talking among themselves. Neptune was trying to calm Uranus down. The inner senshi were following Mamoru with Chibi-Usa walking down the street, looking back apprehensively. Pluto and Saturn were nowhere in sight. Seiya only had a moment to wonder where they had gone when Usagi caught his attention.

"You said you wanted to talk to me, Seiya-kun?" She said, her voice light. He could tell she was still weak.

"Uh..yeah, Usagi-chan..." He started, not sure how to word what was on his mind.

"Have you ever thought about the future?" He asked, looking toward her profile.

"Yes, of course I have...I'm a part of it, aren't I?" Usagi said, not thinking too much about what was said.

"What do you think is going to happen in it?" He asked, knowing what she was going to say.

"Well..Mamoru and I are going to get married, have a daughter and I am going to rule...and then I don't know...seeing myself dead at the gate of time sort of scared me...I don't know what is going to happen after I marry Mamo-chan." Usagi started, a tear reaching the corner of her eye.

"Have you ever thought that maybe you don't marry Mamoru?" Seiya asked, seeing a scared look creep up on her face.

"Don't marry Mamo-chan? I don't think I could dream of it." Usagi said blankly.

"Well...what if you were to marry someone else instead?" Seiya asked.

"Seiya...I have told you before, that is not going to happen...we have nothing between us...I made a choice...I chose Mamo-chan because he is my true love...I cannot feel for another anywhere near what I feel for him." Usagi said, seeing Seiya not look at her anymore. Instead, he was looking down at the ground. "I'm sorry, Seiya- kun...I do have feelings for you." She said, seeing him all of a sudden look up and stare at her.

"But they are friend feelings...not feelings of love." She finished, seeing a stain on his cheek from where a tear had fallen.

"But what if Chibi-Usa isn't really your daughter? Would you want to know the truth?" Seiya said, getting really upset and not controlling the fact that he really didn't want to say that.

"Not my daughter? What are you talking about? Of course she is my daughter...she has my powers...she has my looks..." Usagi said, now getting defensive.

"What if she's not...? What if you were lied to?" Seiya said quickly and heatedly.

"Lied to? Why would Chibi-Usa lie to me?" Usagi said, now starting to get heated herself.

"Not Chibi-Usa..." Seiya said, now starting to yell. "Pluto! What if she lied to you!? What if SHE was really Chibi-Usa's mother in the future, but you didn't know about it?" Seiya said, saying more than he meant to.

"Seiya....I know you have feelings for me, but being jealous is not going to solve anything for you...you need to stop this!" Usagi said abruptly and harshly. Her blue eyes started to flash with an anger that she could always explain....the burning desire to protect her love.

"I'm going home now, Seiya....I don't wish to speak to you anymore. I didn't want to do this, but you have left me with no choice now." Usagi said, turning to walk away.

"Usagi!" Seiya called after her. "There is something I have to tell you." He said, seeing her turn back around.

"In the future....when Pluto and I took the Queen's body back to it's rightful place...I saw myself." Seiya said, getting Usagi's full attention now.

"And?...What did you say?" Usagi asked, now giving her full attention to Seiya.

"I said that I was married to you.." Seiya said quickly, turning away.

"What?" Usagi asked, her voice now gone from her.

"Maybe....after King Endymion died..." Seiya started, but Usagi interrupted him by screaming.

"No! Don't you say that King Endymion is dead! He is not dead! He is my husband! I don't marry you, the future self of you must have lied to you! Or maybe it wasn't really you, I don't know!" Usagi shouted.

"I've been working this out in my head too, Usagi." Seiya said quickly.

"Look how Pluto loves the Princess....she loves her moreso than any other person in the entire universe. Even you have to admit...it's just possible...that Pluto had an affair with the King and had the child...maybe you two were pregnant at the same time..and you lost the child that you have birth to..and both of them decided to substitute Chibi-Usa for that lost child..." Seiya said out loud, trying to think.

"This is absurd!" Usagi shouted at him.

"You're just not ready to accept it yet...but I was hoping to be able to propose to you at the concert that the Three Lights are having in a couple of weeks." Seiya said quickly, taking Usagi's hands.

"Let go of me.." Usagi whispered dangerously. "Your jealousy has no ends, Seiya...we will fight together as one..but I will never believe your lies." Usagi said, running off.

Seiya sat down on a bench in the park they had been walking through. "I hope I haven't done anything stupid." He said to himself.

MEANWHILE

Taron watched the falcon like creature go down. He saw the group drift apart.

"That's it.." He said, taking light notice of Seiya and Usagi walking together. He couldn't hear their conversation, but from the looks of it, the two were arguing like mad.

"What's it?" Umbra asked, looking into the water and seeing the image.

"Don't you see?" Taron said, smiling.

"They are weakest when they are not together...that's the best way to fight them." Taron said, getting up and summoning a creature from another dimension.

The creature was made of ice. It looked like an ice sculpture that moved.

"Oooo.." Umbra said. "He's sort of cute.."

Taron interrupted her. "..but cold as ice....tonight....hell....freezes over...and the iceman...cometh!" He said dangerously.

"Go...after Sailor Mercury" He said, seeing the ice sculpture nod and go into Tokyo.

"We'll just have to use all of the senshi's powers on each themselves." Taron said, laughing.

MEANWHILE

Sailor Pluto had gotten Sailor Saturn back to her aparment. She dehenshined back to Setsuna and put her onto the couch, dressing her wounds carefully.

Hotaru came to. "What happened, Setsuna-mama?" She asked.

"We won...mostly thanks to you." Setsuna said, smiling.

"I didn't do anything." Hotaru said weakly.

"Of course you did..." Setsuna said, going into the kitchen and making some tea.

She brought it out to Hotaru who took it and drank lightly.

All of a sudden, there was a knock at the door.

Setsuna went to answer it and Usagi stood there, panting and exhausted.

"What is this that Seiya said? Is it true?" She asked, just before passing out into Setsuna's arms.

"Setsuna-mama, what was she talking about?" Hotaru asked, as Setsuna put Usagi in her bed.

"I don't know..." Setsuna said, but not wanting to know herself. She called Mamoru at his apartment.

"Hello?" Mamoru answered the phone.

"Mamoru, Usagi came over here and passed out...I think she was just too exhausted..I don't see any sort of bruises on her, so I don't think Seiya attacked her, but she was just so tired...I would be honored to have her rest here until she is well enough to return there." Setsuna said quickly.

"Do you want me to go over there and help you tend to her?" Mamoru asked gently and kindly.

"If you wish, Your Highness." Setsuna said, hanging up the phone.

"Get ready for company." Setsuna said to Hotaru. Hotaru yawned. "I'm going to bed, Setsuna-mama...may I sleep in the extra bedroom here?" She asked.

"Of course, Hotaru." Setsuna answered, smiling.

Setsuna put a cool cloth on Usagi's head. Not too long afterwards, there was a knock at the door. She answered it and let Mamoru in.

"How is Chibi-Usa?" Setsuna asked.

"She will be fine, Minako is taking good care of her." Mamoru said, going to see Usagi.

"I could have taken care of Usagi if you wish to get back to Small Lady." Setsuna said.

"No, Minako is doing well...I wish to be here when Usako wakes up...do you have any idea why she came here instead of coming to my apartment?" Mamoru asked. "That's why I came here..that bothers me."

"No...but she asked me if what Seiya said was true...but she didn't get a chance to tell me what it was that he said." Setsuna answered honestly.

"I wonder what it was he told her too." Mamoru said quickly and shortly.

"I don't trust him, Your Highness....I think he will try to separate you and the queen." Setsuna said, trying not to anger him.

"I was thinking the same thing myself, Setsuna..." Mamoru said.

"How is Hotaru?" Mamoru asked, concern in his voice.

"She is well, she has come to and has asked to sleep in my bed." Setsuna said thoughtfully.

"You go and sleep with Usagi, I will sleep on the couch tonight." Setsuna said sleepily.

Mamoru nodded and headed into Setsuna's bedroom where Usagi lay sleeping.

Setsuna drifted off to sleep on the couch.

MEANWHILE

The ice sculpture had headed into the city to attack Sailor Mercury. She was walking down the street when she was cut down by the creature. She henshined into Sailor Mercury and used her attack. However, since the ice creature was already made of ice, her attack did little.

While she fought bravely, the creature was too much for her alone to handle. As much as she tried, she still fell to the creature's talent.

MEANWHILE

Mamoru lay down with Usagi. He stare at her, worried, because her sleep was very fitful. She wasn't sleeping peacefully at all. He was worried about something happening to his beautiful love.

The next morning, Usagi awoke with a start. She looked up to see both Mamoru and Setsuna standing over her. Her eyes narrowed as she remembered what had happened the previous night.

"Is it true that you are Chibi-Usa's true mother?" Usagi asked to an astounded Setsuna. Setsuna's cheeks went very flushed red.

"IS IT TRUE!?" Usagi screamed out, angrier than she ever had been in her life.