Author's Note: To understand this story, you may want to read Sanctuary: A Christmas Story, if you haven't already! I hope to have a total of six chapters plus this prologue and the epilogue. I will try to post a chapter a day for you all, and I really hope you enjoy the story. The really interesting stuff starts tomorrow! I am taking a mixture of the ideas and requests, as well as a few of my own and weaving it into a tale I don't think any of you are expecting! And your first hints start now! Have a great night everyone. Don't drink and drive, and Have A Wonderful New Year! 2019!

Resolve: A New Years Story
Sequel to:
Sanctuary, A Christmas Story

Prologue
Bereaved

***Usagi's POV***

Usagi knew the others thought she was overreacting. After all, how could she have grown to love the twins so much and so quickly? But love them she did. And she missed them terribly. Only Mamoru and her parents really understood.

It wasn't that the others didn't try. It just didn't hit them the same way. They gathered around in support and she was grateful. But this wasn't a sadness that would be erased by a trip to buy a new outfit. Usagi didn't want a new outfit. She wanted to hold the twins in her arms again.

It was New Years Eve, and she was busy helping to decorate the house, and get it ready for guests later. All of her best friends would be coming over. Her parents had even invited Ami's mother and Rei's grandfather, both of whom knew their secret. They were turning the house into a bit of a safe haven, where the teenagers didn't have to hide their abilities.

Naru and Umino poured chips into a large bowl while they spoke of ordinary things. She sighed. No one seemed to want to talk about the babies around her. She missed them, but she needed to remember them. After all, they would be born one day, and then she would get to enjoy them. She thought about how Chibi-Mamo had done that strange quirk of the eyebrow just like Mamoru, and how Chibi-Usa was a little piglet when she guzzled her milk, making a mess. Someday the twins would be born, and she and Mamoru could look forward to that day.

She carefully looked around before she stepped up onto the back of the couch to secure on of the banners. None of the others wanted her doing tasks where her klutz attacks could get her hurt. 'Honestly though,' she thought, 'I'm not as bad as I used to…'

The thought ended as she lost her footing and fell backwards, the entire length of the streamer coming down with her as she fell. Her back hit the coffee table and the wood was smashed and splintered as she crashed through and finally met the floor. Her head hit with a loud thump and the world faded out for a long moment.

"Usagi!" Naru and Umino shouted at her. She heard racing footsteps and shouts. "Are you okay?" Naru asked, kneeling over her.

She wanted to nod and tell her friend she was fine, but nausea rose up in her throat and her head pounded so hard she wondered how many construction crews were actually drilling holes in her brain.

:: USAKO! :: she heard Mamoru's voice, loud in her mind as he appeared in the room, a blur of light. He'd been at his apartment, possibly in the shower considering his hair was wet and he was only wearing a pair of jeans. His feet were bare and his chest dripped with water. He looked yummy. She wanted to giggle, but it hurt too much.

Mamoru knelt beside her and put his hands on her head. Brilliant sparks of golden light sunk into her and she could feel herself being healed. The pain grew worse for one long moment, and then slowly disappeared. He lifted her off the floor and into his arms.

She sat up slightly, finally able to really look around. Luna was staring at her in shock. Her mother and father both looked panicked, as did Naru and Umino. Shingo had spilled an entire bottle of juice on the living room floor, and Haruki looked like he might faint.

She peered down at where she had fallen. There was a pool of blood where her head had been. She wasn't upset. Head wounds tended to bleed more than other injuries. It wasn't like she hadn't had concussions before. She hadn't even fully lost consciousness.

She refused to look up at Mamoru. She knew if she did the yelling would start. And she no longer had a headache as an excuse. She glanced at everyone again and then closed her eyes to just enjoy the feeling of being held by her Soul-Bonded. She wished she could just stay there in his arms forever.

But then the questions were fired from all angles.

"What the hell were you thinking!?" Haruki shouted.

"Are you crazy? You could have gotten yourself killed!" Shingo yelled.

"Why do I have to worry more about you at home then when you're out fighting monsters?" her mother asked.

"Are you okay?" Naru asked again.

"MY BABY BUNNY!" her father wailed.

"Usako? Do I have to remind you that I can find you a padded hamster ball?" Mamoru asked, not sounding like he was remotely kidding. That threat was a personal favorite of his.

"Wow, did that hurt?" Umino wondered.

"Usagi? Can you speak?" Luna frowned and jumped into her lap as Mamoru set her down on the couch.

"I'm okay," she whispered.

"Well, if you want to make it to the New Year, you won't be doing anything like that again young lady," her cat scolded.

"She's right Usagi," her mother took up the torch. "You know you can't do things like that. You'll get yourself hurt." She rushed forward and Usagi was rather crushed as the others decided it was the best moment to hug her as well.

"What on earth were you doing?" Mamoru asked quietly. He was looking down at the ruined table and the streamer.

"I was decorating," Usagi explained, keeping her voice small.

"I told you I would do that," Shingo said, sounding exasperated.

"Oops," Usagi couldn't help but give her brother a small smile. He shook his fist at her and began muttering under his breath.

"Couldn't you have waited a few more minutes?" Haruki asked, frowning down at her.

Usagi ducked her head. It was a bit frustrating that no one trusted her with a task like that. She leapt off of buildings as Sailor Moon. Ran across rooftops. Fought Youma and Cardians. She'd defeated Beryl and Metallia, chased off a couple energy sucking aliens, and foiled a kidnapping plot. She wasn't weak and helpless.

Mamoru, apparently catching her train of thought, knelt in front of her. "No one thinks you're helpless, or weak Usagi." He ran his hand over the back of her head, and brought it back bloody. She could see the spots of blood on his chest and arms. "We just know you have balance issues."

"Yeah," Shingo snorted, "balance issues. She's the biggest klutz I've ever met."

Usagi wanted to cry. It wasn't as though she didn't try. She thought she was getting better. In fact, she didn't have nearly as many klutz attacks as she'd had before.

There was a knock at the door, pulling her from her thoughts. Haruki went to open it and several young teenage girls entered. Rei, the fiery miko raced forward at the sight of the destruction she'd caused.

"Usagi! Are you okay?" Rei checked her over, not bothering to listen to the others who promised she was fine and had already been healed. Within a moment she had satisfied herself that Usagi would live. And then, "what on earth did you do to yourself this time?" she asked.

"Rei!" Usagi couldn't help whining. "Why are you so mean to me?"

Rei stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry and Usagi copied her. It was incredibly childish behavior, and everyone else huffed and sighed, lamenting their need to act that way. But she really knew it was because Rei was simply relieved that she was alright. Her friend had a hard time expressing her emotions. They were very close in spite of their nearly constant arguments. More like sisters than anything else.

She grabbed Rei's hand and squeezed, making sure none of the others could see. When Rei squeezed back they let their childish contest end and grinned at one another.

"So," Rei said, changing the subject, "when did Mamoru lose his shirt?"

Usagi giggled as Mamoru's face turned red. Suddenly he was baking away as Kenji had noticed his shirtless state as well. He mumbled something and then spun in place and disappeared.

The girls giggled while her father muttered about getting his katana.

***Fiore's POV***

Fiore glanced at the strange ship. At first it had been a shock to see something land on the asteroid he had brought closer and closer to the earth. And then, slowly, the color had left it and he had been faced with something he'd never hoped to see again. The Makai tree.

He moved forward, a bit shaken, and the outer wall disappeared. With cautious steps he grew closer and closer, praying that he had not lost all sense and reason. That what he saw before him was real. He had not seen it since his early childhood. Before the strange war that had grown between his people.

As he reached out, the tree lifted a large root and wrapped gently around him. Warmth. Light. Love. Joy. Fierce Joy. And pain. Sorrow and shame. Hurt. The need for comfort.

Slowly the tree shared the story, and her need.

With a happier heart than he'd ever had, he reached out and hugged his creator, promising his aid. He would do what he could.

An shivered, nearly frozen, and wondered what they were going to do. Ail, who had wrapped his arms around her for warmth, held her tight, but she could feel his anger, his sorrow and hopelessness. He was sure it was her fault the tree had left them. They were in their human disguises so that no one could tell they weren't from the planet, but she was still worried she might be recognized.

She could hear the Kisenian blossom in her pocket. The little creature was not happy to have lost the powerful tree. She was not happy to be cold. She was not happy that she didn't have her way.

But something was happening inside An that the kisenian blossom didn't understand. An was waking up. Her sorrow over the Tree of Life leaving them behind was so great that she was able to think clearly for the first time in many years. And her first thoughts were ones of guilt, shame, and sorrow. They had lost the Makai tree. Their creator, their hope for a future. She frowned, and held tighter to Ail.

They could not go back to the school, where Usagi and the others knew their identity. And she was afraid. Desperately afraid. Ail was weak. His connection to the tree had always been much stronger than her own. She'd had the Kisenian blossom to strengthen her, to guide her, but he hadn't even known her little friend was there. And he refused to release any more of the Cardians to get energy for them.

She had to gather energy for Ail somehow. She had to make this right. But she didn't know how. The tree had abandoned them.

She held back a sob as her anger began to grow again. The tree had abandoned them. She was stuck here on this miserable excuse for a planet.

She would not lose Ail. She would do what she had to do. She would save him. Because he was all that she had left. Those infants were gone, but perhaps if she drained Usagi dry she could protect Ail. She didn't need a stupid Cardian to do it.

Suddenly a shadow rose over the two of them and An looked up to see a tall man with bright golden hair and incredibly vivid green eyes. He stared down at the two of them, a frown on his face. Kneeling, he reached his hand out and touched An on her wrist. She wanted to pull back, to move away from him, but his hand wrapped around her. She didn't know why, but he seemed to cause a strange feeling of fear in her. She'd never really been afraid before.

She linked her thoughts to where his skin met hers and tried to pull energy from him, but was shocked when she realized she couldn't. Had the tree cut her abilities when it abandoned them? She tried again and again, but nothing happened.

"Come with me, young ones," he said. "You shouldn't be out here in the cold. It's about to get dark."

With nothing more said he easily lifted both herself and Ail to their feet and began to lead them away. She wanted to fight him, to run. He wore a uniform and a strange shiny metal thing on his chest. She feared that metal. It meant something. Authority. She didn't want him to have authority over her. Ail moved quietly beside her, a warm arm still wrapped around her waist.

The man opened the door of his car and they were gently pushed inside. The back seat was like a cage, with a metal grate hung between it and the front seats. When he closed the door she knew it was locked and she couldn't get out.

"We have to get you somewhere safe. Where do you live?" the man asked.

Ail started speaking. "We don't have a home," he explained. "We don't know who our parents are."

An wanted to scream, and possibly hit him. She could hear the Kisenian blossom hiss in her pocket.

"Then I'm afraid it's the orphanage for you," the man said. "My name is Officer Yamada. I'm going to take you to the police station, and we can get you all set up," he said. His tone was kind, but An couldn't help feeling that his kindness would lead them both to trouble.

"What are your names?" asked Officer Yamada.

"Ginga Seijoru and Ginga Natsume" Ail answered.

Credit and Dedication:

This idea came as a mixture of requests and ideas, but I have to give credit to the ones who really inspired the story.

They are, in no particular order:
2 unnamed guest readers
Princess Serenity (guest reviewer)
LoveInTheBattlefield
Rosalind Fairchilde
Astral Dragon Spirit
Ladie Byrd
Tropical Remix
Astraearose-silvermoon

I'm dedicating this prologue to my husband (who really does threaten me with a padded hamster ball) for all of his help with ideas and his support when I'm feeling down.

This story is dedicated to my readers however. Those reviewers who supported me during the last story when I was having a really tough time. Thank you all so much. You are just absolutely wonderful.