Chapter Text
My own take on reviving the Shitennou. Ever since finding out that they were Mamoru's answer to Usagi's Senshi and the Senshi's own love interests…it has absolutely grinded my gears that they have never, not once, been revived for any length of time, nor they and the Senshi allowed to live out their happily ever afters! So I'm fixing that ;)
Many thanks to LuckyLadybug for letting bounce ideas back and forth off her, and also for suggesting a line from a song as a title :)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of its characters; I'm merely a fan who hasn't had her fill of them. All rights belong to Naoko Takeuchi.
.:Mo Ghile Mear:.
Why hadn't they been resurrected?
"You are all I need, my Queen."
Why hadn't they been restored?
"You are all any of us will ever need."
They were not the only ones who felt that way about someone.
"Our first loyalty is to you."
…As had theirs been to her fiancé.
Not for the first time, Usagi glanced toward the room where Mamo-chan kept the stones that harbored the spirits of his guardians. Not for the first time, she wondered: why had they not been resurrected as her Sailor Senshi? Had they not given their lives for their prince as Usagi's guardians had for their princess? Was their love and loyalty for Endymion not as strong as that of Ami's, Rei's, Makoto's, and Minako's for Serenity?
Why had the Four Kings not been resurrected as well?
"I have to go to work, now," Mamoru called, walking in from the kitchen. He kissed her. "But stay as long as you like, my love." Usagi smiled. She and Mamo did not officially live together—and would not until after their wedding next year—but she spent significant time at his apartment, often coming over for breakfast and again for dinner. And sometimes never leaving in-between.
"I'll miss you," she replied, returning his gesture. The door closed, the key turning in the lock, and Usagi stood, gathering the dishes from the small table and moving to wash them in the sink. What she had right now with Mamoru was very domestic, very…normal. It had been years now since she had really had to transform into Sailor Moon…the occasional mugger, a robber here and there…and Usagi knew the other ladies had followed suit in occasionally donning their own Sailor identities. Oh, there had been another group of aliens awhile back trying to eliminate humanity for their own purposes, but another group of girls—a group oddly reminiscent of the Sailor Senshi, yet having qualities of animals instead of planets…"Mew Mews", Ami had called them—had risen instead and put an end to that threat. The Senshi had helped when the time called for it—but it had been the Mew Mews who had ultimately won that fight.
That had been some time ago now, too. Last Usagi heard, Ichigo had moved to England with her own "Endymion".
Why had it not been the same for her Senshi? If the Crystal was a manifestation of her and Mamoru's love for each other, and the Crystal followed her heart, and her heart had wished for a normal life, with all her friends and her Prince…why had it not extended the same domestic courtesy to Mamoru's own Shitennou, the knights Zoisite, Jadeite, Nephrite, and Kunzite? Had her friends not given their lives for their Princess in those battles? Had Mamoru's friends not done the same for their Prince?
Why had the Shitennou not been resurrected along with her Senshi? Along with her and Mamo-chan?
Usagi sighed as she finished drying the dishes and put the plates away. Her friends insisted that she, their Queen, was all they would ever need. Their loyalty to her came first…just as the knights' loyalty to their King. They did not regret the decisions that had to be made in those moments: had they not gone on despite the grief in their hearts, they would not have been able to lend their strength to Usagi in that final battle. Had the knights not saved Mamoru by allowing their stones to be shattered in place of his heart? And had Mamoru not saved and aided Usagi in turn? Had it happened any other way, the world itself might have paid the price. Had it not been for their friends' ultimate sacrifices, Beryl and Metalia would have triumphed.
All the more reason for all of them to be fully restored. The Spectre Sisters had been granted a second chance with Saphir; why not those who had had no choice in their evils?
Her friends insisted that she was all they would need; Mamoru likewise had only wished for her happiness.
But she did not miss the sadness in Ami's voice when they spoke of Usagi's wedding plans. She did not miss the longing that crossed Minako's face when Mamoru presented his bride-to-be with some sweet trinket or gesture. Michiru and Haruka had recently visited with Hotaru…though Makoto had only ever had eyes for men, Usagi nevertheless suspected the other to be missing her Nephrite, wishing to once again have what Neptune and Uranus still did.
She had sensed a certain wistfulness in Mamoru, too. His knights had not expressed their love and camaraderie for each other so verbally as did the Senshi, but Usagi had heard their voices more often as she had entered her fiancé's home for dinner. He and Motoki often enjoyed a drink or a round of video games at the arcade, but that did not mean he missed his old guardians any less.
Not a single one of the Senshi regretted their actions. And she believed them when they said with conviction that they did not regret the actions of the past. Rei had gone so far as to swear a vow of celibacy to her Queen…and Usagi, knowing the depth of Mars' sincerity, had accepted. But how could the queen fully be happy, knowing that her dear friend missed her own love?
Usagi stood, feeling herself filled with conviction. If the Crystal followed her heart, her heart desired for all her friends to be as happy and content as she was with Mamoru. She desired Mamoru to have the same companionships that she still did. Surely, there had to be a solution for all.
…But, she needed those who knew more than she did. She had grown significantly in her capacity as the Princess Serenity and Sailor Moon, but she nevertheless did not have the answers to everything. She did not want to go to her Senshi; that would only result in insistences of happiness as it had in the past, or false hope that something could be changed. And Usagi did not know that it could be. But at the same time, she did not know that it could not be.
Usagi walked into Mamoru's bedroom. On his dresser, a special box harbored cut gemstones each of jadeite, nephrite, zoisite, and kunzite. Gemstones harboring the spirits of those Knights bearing the same names. She had never spoken to the Shitennou by herself before…not after their return to the side of Light. But she felt no fear, only nerves…what if it didn't work? With care, she opened the box, gently laying a finger on one of the gems.
She did not want to fill the Shitennou with false hope, either, but they had less to lose than her Senshi. She could not hope to figure out this troublesome mystery on her own.
"Kunzite?" she called, her voice seeming loud in the otherwise quiet room. But a glow covered the gem for a moment, and then the spirit of Mamoru's lead advisor appeared.
"My Queen?" he asked, perplexed, and for a moment sorrow anew filled her. They were not even alive in the full sense of the word, yet still acknowledged her role as their prince's betrothed as loyally as any other.
"My Queen?" the former knight repeated. "Has something happened to Endymion?" Usagi smiled, then shook her head. She was here to find a solution, not dwell on past sorrows.
"No…Mamo-chan is just fine," she said. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you. All of you, if that's okay…" The other three knights manifested with a glow of their own, expressions just as perplexed as their leader.
"Us?" Jadeite queried. "Whatever for, my Queen?"
"I…you four…you remember more than we do what happened in the past," she said, and they nodded, sobering. The past was not a pretty place to dwell on: corruption by Beryl not once but twice, turning not only on the women they had once loved, but their prince as well. Endymion had freely forgiven them—in fact, he had never blamed them once for their actions under Beryl's yoke—but it still pained them to dwell on it, and Usagi knew it.
"Why didn't the Crystal revive you as well?" she asked, and they blinked, looking at each other with even more confusion than before.
"I'm…afraid I'm not sure, my Queen," Nephrite finally ventured an answer. "I don't believe it's ever a question we've dwelt on, ourselves."
"Even with Mamo-chan spending more time in here when I'm not with him?" she asked, and they gave her sad smiles.
"…We don't regret our decision," Zoisite said firmly. "We are duty-bound to him much as your Senshi are to you."
"I know you don't," Usagi smiled. "But my question remains…my Senshi gave their lives for me, too. And Mamoru. And they all came back. You four are to my Senshi what he is to me. And what they are to me, you are to him. Why didn't the Crystal bring you back, as well? Is…there something…I missed, when I begged it to revive my own loved ones? When it revived myself and Mamoru as well?" Was it her fault? Had she…?
"You mustn't blame yourself, my Queen," Kunzite spoke again.
"But what if it's because of me that you weren't restored?" she asked. The knights shook their heads.
"I don't know why we were not restored," Nephrite said. "But what I do know is that it is not your fault, my Queen."
"…But…that's not fair," Usagi said, frowning at the ground. "You four deserve a second chance just as much as any of us!"
"Perhaps…our sins were too great to overcome?" Jadeite suggested. He could hardly conceive of the evils they had committed while under the yoke of Beryl…they who were sworn to defend their prince and humanity with their very lives and had in fact ended up taking so many of them.
"That wasn't you," she said firmly. "That was Beryl's spell. You tried to fight her as soon as you learned the truth, didn't you? You didn't commit those evils."
"Physically, we did," Zoisite commented.
"I don't believe for a minute that the Crystal wouldn't know the difference if I did," Usagi said. Kunzite regarded her gently.
"We could debate all day about whether or not the Crystal did or didn't revive us on purpose or on accident," the eldest knight said. "But it would provide no concrete answers for you. We are satisfied with our lot: we protected our prince, our dear friend and future King, and in doing so aided you, our Queen, in saving the planet you and he so dearly love. It is all right, Usagi."
"…'Satisfied' doesn't mean 'happy'," Usagi argued. Then she sobered. "If you four had the chance to come back, too, would you? I know the Senshi miss you, too. As does Mamo-chan."
"We do miss them," Jadeite said. "But we would make the same sacrifice again, if we had to." He smiled. "We're grateful you ladies have the chance to live out your lives as your mother intended."
Usagi frowned. Her mother had revived them all, hadn't she?
"Please, my Queen…do not trouble yourself with these thoughts any longer," Nephrite said. "Though we cannot continue to be with you in the flesh, please know that we are always with you in spirit. We will continue to advise your future husband in the capacity that we so often have. Do not use your future to dwell on our past."
But how could she…when their future was built on their past?
'As my mother intended…but my mother would have wanted us all to be happy, too, right? How can I be content in my love, knowing my Senshi are missing theirs?'
.:s:S:s:.
"Mamo-chan?"
"Yes, my love?" Mamoru returned, dishing out some more udon. He looked at her: her face wore an unusually serious expression.
"Do you ever wonder…why your Shitennou were not revived with my Senshi?" she asked. Mamoru smiled, but she noticed a certain sadness within it.
"…What brings up this question, Usagi?" he asked, and she frowned.
"So you do," she commented, and he sighed.
"I do," he admitted. "It's not something I've asked them about; no reason to bring them sorrow when they already carry so much. They don't regret their actions in saving us, in saving the world. They'd do it all again tomorrow.
"But…I know that they sometimes also wish they could be here, with us," he added.
"You miss them, too."
"I do." She frowned. He'd been missing them.
"I couldn't live without you," she said. "But I also don't know that I could live without my Senshi. And right now…you and they are living without both." She shook her head. "Why weren't they revived with my girls? That…that wasn't what my mother wanted. And that isn't what I want…
"Nephrite suggested that perhaps their sins were too great, this time…but then how is it that we were revived again, and they were revived the first time?"
"You talked with them?" Mamoru asked, surprised. Usagi nodded.
"I'm sorry…I can't help but notice that my Senshi seem lonely whenever I bring up our wedding…and I can't help but notice you seem…wistful…when you see me with them," she said. He shook his head.
"I'm not upset…just surprised, that's all."
"I just can't imagine that there's not a way to bring them back! I wondered if Kunzite might know, since they remember more of the past, but…none of them had much idea." Usagi looked troubled, but Mamoru looked thoughtful.
"…You mentioned your mother. Why not ask her?"
"Hmm?" Usagi tilted her head. "Ask…my other mother? Queen Serenity?"
"Yeah. Let's go to the moon. Maybe she could tell us if we're missing something." He sobered. "Or…if we're wasting our time." Usagi shook her head firmly.
"I refuse to believe that until I've proven it for myself," she said. "You're right…let's go."
.:s:S:s:.
Silver Millennium looked just as lovely as Usagi remembered from the last she had been there. But she was on a mission. She walked with Mamoru straight to the Chamber of Prayer.
"You go on, Usako," Mamoru said. "Only the queen is allowed—" But she shook her head.
"I am the queen. And I want you by my side, my king. Please?" Mamoru hesitated only a moment—not for lack of desire, but for the desire to not disobey some odd rule. But Usagi was the queen…and their traditions had already altered significantly. Perhaps, at least this time, it would be all right?
"Very well," he agreed, and she lit up, taking his arm and walking with him inside. Queen Serenity's consciousness manifested, regarding both with joy.
"Hello, Mother," Usagi greeted, smiling at the small sprite-like figure before them.
"Serenity, my dear daughter!" The former queen smiled brightly at her daughter and future son-in-law, and Mamoru sighed slightly in relief. Obviously, whatever past rule he may have broken by entering this chamber had no bearing on the present. "And how is your life treating you on Earth? I'm so pleased that you and Endymion have finally received the chance to be together as you wished! I could wish for no better man, and no more than your happiness." Usagi nodded.
"Thank you, Mother—we are very happy. And that is actually what brings us to you this night." A look of confusion briefly crossed the former queen's face, and Usagi told her of everything she had discussed with the both Shitennou and her dear Endymion.
"I love Ami and Rei and Mako and Minako so much, Mother! They are more to me than just my guardians—they are my sisters and confidantes! How can Mamoru and I truly be happy know they are missing their own 'Endymions'?" Usagi shook her head. "Mother…there must be some way to revive Mamo-chan's knights! They died as my Senshi did. Why didn't it work? Or…are we just…wasting our time trying?"
"Love is never a waste of time, darling," Queen Serenity replied. She put a knuckle to her chin, deep in thought.
"The Silver Crystal was born of the great love you and Mamoru have for each other," the queen said. "And it reacts to the desire of the current queen—or princess. You and Mamoru had great love for each other. And you had great love for your Senshi. And I had great love for you."
"But Mamo-chan and his guardians love each other, too! And my guardians love them!"
"The case of revival is complicated. You and Endymion saved each other again via that deep love." She smiled. "Is it possible, perhaps, that just a little more love is needed?
"The Shitennou unintentionally betrayed their prince—twice—and so wished for a way to make penance. Saving Mamoru's life and making the ultimate sacrifice was part of that penance. And the Senshi's first and final thoughts were on their Princess and the planet they so loved, encouraged by their own knights and princes. All of them put their love for you and Endymion first. Perhaps then…it is not a matter of why the Crystal didn't revive them, so much as their desire to protect the ones they held most dear that prevented the Crystal from doing so?"
"But that's changed now, hasn't it?" Usagi protested. Serenity smiled.
"Love conquers all, dearest," she replied. "You both love your friends and want to see them happy. Perhaps then, they need reassurance that their happiness is not only wanted, but needed if you are to all be truly happy? You are all very unselfish people, darling—and that is what makes your team so strong. But unselfish people often have a very hard time of putting themselves first." She winked. "A lot of love and a little Silver Crystal will surely go a long way." Usagi smiled, bending down to kiss the little sprite on her cheek.
"Thank you, Mother." She rose. "Mamoru and I will leave a chair for you at the wedding…right next to my earth family. I want you all to be there…however you are able." The queen smiled.
"And I will be there in whatever capacity I am able, my dear Serenity, and dear Endymion. I would not miss it for the world."
.:s:S:s:.
"Usagi?" Ami asked, as her communicator lit up. "Come…to Mamoru's apartment? You know I love you, but you do know I have a test coming up in two days' time?"
"Please, Ami?" Usagi asked. "It's really important. And all of you need to be there." Ami tensed.
"Is there some kind of trouble?!" she asked. "Usagi—"
"Oh, no! Nothing like that! I promise it'll all make sense when you get here, okay? And if it doesn't work, you can go back to university and keep studying. I don't think it'll take very long, but…it's something I hope will make you all happy." Ami looked at her, puzzled…but at last she lowered her head with a smile.
"If it's that important to you, Usagi, I'll be there."
An hour later, the Sailor Senshi, as well as Luna and Artemis, had gathered outside Mamoru's door. Minako raised her hand to knock…but Usagi was faster.
"Friends, come in!" she said excitedly, and the girls did. What on earth was this all about?
"Usagi?" Rei regarded her friend and princess with a smile. "What was so urgent that we all had to meet so quickly?"
"You and I only went shopping yesterday," Makoto said with a laugh, and Usagi returned their kind smiles. But instead, she looked to Mamoru.
"Bring them in," she said, and her fiancé entered, carrying a small black box. Rei drew a breath: she knew that box. She would know it with her eyes closed; she could feel their presence from here.
"My friends," Mamoru said. "Please, manifest yourselves for us." At Endymion's bidding, the knights did just that. And seemed just as perplexed as the Senshi did. Usagi drew a breath, holding her Moon Rod in her hands. With a smile, Mamoru came and put an arm around her.
"I know…that all of you put my life and my happiness above your own," she began. She looked to the Shitennou. "You as well, doing the same for Mamoru and my Senshi. You wanted us to live more than anything else." Jadeite's face softened.
"That is true," he said. She looked back to the girls.
"I asked my mother…Queen Serenity, not Mom, I mean…why your loves weren't revived this time with mine. She said that love and resurrection was complicated…that penance had been a desire." The Shitennou responded with sallow smiles. Yes…that had been.
"But you've made that penance," Usagi said to them. She turned to the girls. "And I can't help that notice you're lonely. You've dated, yeah, but…when you've found your soulmate, how will anyone else fill their space? Romantically and"—she turned to Mamoru—"otherwise?" The ladies before her regarded the knights with longing. They had not been able to grieve before, and the knights had not wanted them to.
But Usagi was right. They had had paradise once…and then paradise lost. And then paradise won and paradise lost again. And if they had to do it again, they would.
But what if they didn't? What if they hadn't?
"You all have spent so long wanting us to be happy. But we want you to be happy, too," Usagi continued. "So please"—she gestured at the Moon Rod—"just this once, put yourselves first. We can't truly be happy, knowing our dearest friends in the world are sad."
'Please,' she prayed, 'let this work.'
Love was complicated, and revival was complicated, too. But if love conquered all, love should conquer this, too. Usagi clasped the rod in both her hands, willing her power into the crystal…willing its Heaven-sent power to grant its miracles, one more time. Mamoru clasped his hand around hers, driving his own power into it. Then Ami came in on her other side…and Rei, and Makoto and Minako. On Mamoru's other side, his knights clasped shoulders in a similar manner, driving what little power their spirits still possessed into the silver crystal, themselves.
And then they were not spirits anymore. As the light of Serenity's powers faded…the feel of Zoisite's grip on Mamoru's arm became strong and solid.
"It worked!" Minako gasped, gripping Kunzite's forearms with her hands. "Oh, my love—I can touch you!"
"I can't see through you anymore, Jadeite!" Rei said. "Oh, Usagi…it worked!"
A flurry of embraces and tears and kisses were exchanged as the now-living knights took true advantage of their solid bodies to greet their princesses and their king. Usagi too, found herself holding Mamoru close to her as their friends embraced each other for what was truly the first time in millennia. She smiled at him, wiping tears from her own cheeks, then dabbing at his with a thumb. He kissed her temple.
"Thank you," he said quietly. "It's not that I didn't ever want them back…it's just…I don't think it ever occurred to me I still could. I didn't think there was a way. You've always accomplished the impossible, Usagi."
"And you've always supported me in it, my love."
.:s:S:s:.
The day went on, and eventually, both Usagi and Mamoru realized that there wasn't quite enough food in the apartment for ten people.
"I know it's not Christmas…but it sure feels like it!" Usagi said. "What do you say we go get some KFC?"
"Usagi, are you sure?"
"Yes. Mamo and I don't mind at all," she said, and he nodded in agreement.
"Sit tight," he insisted. "We'll be right back—you'll love it."
However, the KFC they went to did not have the soda Mako liked. So Usagi stepped away into a convenience shoot to grab some, while Mamo went on home with the rest of the food. When Usagi at last ascended the stairs, what she saw puzzled her very much: Mamoru standing outside his door with a thoughtful look.
"Mamo-chan?" she asked. "Why aren't you inside?" He smiled.
"Come see." Carefully, quietly, Mamoru opened the door. Usagi peered inside the apartment, and what she saw very nearly brought tears to her eyes again: Kunzite stretched out on the sofa with Minako, both blissfully asleep in each other's arms. In front of the same sofa, Zoisite and Ami were also asleep, her head resting on his shoulder, his head pillowed on hers. Nephrite and Makoto had stretched out in the middle of the floor with Kunzite's cape draped over them…and in Mamoru's chair, Jadeite and Rei had somehow managed to squeeze together: her sitting in his lap, his arms wrapped securely around her as they both traversed Morpheus' realm.
"I didn't have the heart to disturb them," Mamoru said, wrapping an arm around Usagi. "It's been so long." Usagi smiled.
"I guess coming back to life took more out of them than we thought," she giggled. "I'll leave this on the table for when they wake. Why don't you and I go out to eat?" she suggested. Tonight, their friends took priority. Tonight, their friends needed to remain with their dearest loves for as long as these loves deemed necessary.
"Would you like to stay over at my house tonight?" Usagi asked. "Shingo won't mind; he's been asking when you'll be around again, anyway." Indeed, Usagi's whole family had taken quite favorably to 'Mamo-chan', and he had gone on a number of camping trips with her father and brother. Mamoru smiled.
"Sure. I'd like that," he replied.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
It was very weird writing for these four for the first time XD I hope I did them justice!
—Taken from Celtic Woman's version of the traditional Irish song, "Mo Ghile Mear", or…"My Gallant Star". There are many brilliant versions of this song, but Celtic Woman sings one of the most romantic and one of the most uplifting :) The sad story of a love gone far away…but their version is filled with hope, as well.
—On the Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness, steel clocks in at 4-4.5. Jadeite, nephrite, zoisite, and kunzite, respectively, clock in at 6.5-7, 6-6.5, 6-7, and 6.5-7…a.k.a, logically, steel wouldn't be hard enough to scratch them, and arguably, the magical sword shouldn't have broken them because they all had magical properties in the show, themselves
(That in mind, the Mohs scale does leave some things to be desired in terms of sheer geological "tenacity": both zoisite and kunzite are considered "brittle" (they can be ground into powders easily), while jadeite and nephrite (both types of the gemstone 'jade'…Tales of the Abyss fans will be very familiar with this ;) are hard enough to make weapons out of.)
—KFC is indeed the most popular Christmas dinner in Japan XD
—There will be an omake to follow :)
Leave a review if you enjoyed :) Thank you all for reading!
~MoonlightTyger
This song comes from their tour and CD, “A New Journey”. This particular version live however, is only available on their CD “The Greatest Journey”. Not many groups sound better live than on CD, but they do! I highly recommend the live version :)