1716/Leaves of oak, Crown of Mourning

Leaves of oak, Crown of Mourning
Date of Scene:	26 June 2024
Location:	Silver Millennium
Synopsis:	Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen accompany Sailor Jupiter to reclaim the Leaves of Oak. The Capital City of the Moon is a lonely place, but good friends - and terrible jokes - can make anything better.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Makoto Kino, Mamoru Chiba

---

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
They've - to call it exploring is too lighthearted, misrepresents the feelings, the moment - been moving through the Capital City of the Moon for a short while now; this ancient, ageless city which still stands, half-burnt, half-toppled, but still there, still navigable, still utterly knowable as a place that had been home, been comfortable, been safe and loved and loving, and which had crumbled under siege that they walked in Beryl's time bubble.

It had been a straightforward decision, to circle first to Mars' final resting place, at the city's eastern gate, toppled after her grand final battle, and from there, the Moon Palace, where both Venus and Mercury too met their end.

It was Jupiter who met her end alone, at the center of a great storm, surrounded by the bodies of her fallen enemies, and its to Jupiter's final resting place - a great chasm in the distance, a crater that glints with glass - that Tuxedo Kamen, Sailor Moon, and Sailor Jupiter make their way too now.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Sailor Jupiter has been quiet through their sojourn on the moon, hanging back a bit as they made their way from one site to the next. Present, ever sturdy - but pensive. She only grows moreso as they approach the blasted crater. She'll never admit it out loud, but she's grateful that the others have things to distract themselves with while she and Usagi and Mamoru make this trek.

"...so it all really happened," she says quietly, eyes on the glass-bottomed pit that yawns wide before them. "I was kind of hoping that was an illusion Beryl made up, or something like that."

She already knew better, on some level. But she'd still hoped.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Tuxedo Kamen is silent-- aside from the not-enough-of-a-whisper to Usagi earlier and a few similar remarks based in his memory of the last few years from Endymion's perspective, and his important-to-him question for Queen Serenity, he has been very quiet.

It was his best friends who spearheaded the invasion -- his best friends that he's welcomed back eagerly into his life, and therefore brought into the lives of the Senshi. He gave his life trying to protect Serenity, but he feels, he'll always feel, somehow, that it was too little too late. And everyone was reborn and given second chances, and look what he did with his, and what he did with three out of four of his friends...

Somber, melancholy, uncomfortable. His question had been so important. But now it's in the past and Makoto, honest and forthright and sweet straightforward Makoto, is having to deal with the evidence of her own end.

Mamoru puts a hand on Jupiter's shoulder and says only, "I'm sorry."

He didn't see it at all, but there's a glassy crater. He can guess.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I'm sorry too," Usagi says quietly, "I feel like... the only time that woman tells the truth, is when it's worse than any lie."

She's come up behind Sailor Jupiter, put her arms around her in a hug, eyes clenched shut for a moment.

She'd not been there, but, from the Moon Palace, they had all seen the figure wreathed in lightning, the center of a hurricane, a specter of divine retribution whose rage and grief were enough to bring down the dome protecting Capital City.

This place, that had been home, it hurts to linger, in this damage. It's damage that they had died in, damage that she's grateful not to live in. The shadow of her mother, now gone forever, lives in her heart, and she aches but she'll never -

Despite everything, it all brought them together, again. Though there are so many things to mourn, she can't regret.

Deep in that pit, in that glass lined crater, glints something that isn't glass, something more solid and real. There's no more organic matter, nothing left of the vines which had propped Jupiter's dying body, nothing of the tree which had devoured Kunzite -

The mercy that only Silence could bring.

Makoto Kino has posed:
"Feels like I'm the one who should be saying I'm sorry." When Sailor Moon's arms come around her, Makoto folds hers over them, taking reassurance from the hug and from Tuxedo Mask's hand on her shoulder.

Still, her eyes remain fixed on the crater. On that single glint in the midst of all the lightning-blasted glass.

After a moment, she gently disengages herself from Usagi's hug. With careful, yet purposeful steps, she picks her way over the rim of the crater and begins to descend over the treacherous footing towards the bottom.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
For this part, Mamoru only follows if Usagi invites him to, if Usagi goes down there with Makoto herself. This looks like a journey that Sailor Jupiter's set for herself, with all her strength from this life -- he sees it in her shoulders, he sees it in her steps, it's Makoto Kino's oaken strength, Makoto Kino's unstoppable storm of determination, that carries her forward.

He practically holds his breath, cape still drifting slowly down from when he last stepped, moments ago. He's had his mask off since they spoke to Queen Serenity, but at this moment he wishes he could hide behind it.

He doesn't. He only watches, unless Usagi pulls or gestures for him to join, and if she does, he doesn't say anything else. This feels too private, too sacred somehow.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi does not descend into the crater with Makoto, though she leans over as close as she dares, watching. The last thing this moment needs is her slip and sliding into a faceplant in Jupiter's final resting place, and being honest with herself, she knows that's exactly what would happen if she dared descend alongside her friend.

So instead she waits, standing with Mamoru, leaning against him into his warmth - their henshins may protect them from the empty chill of space, but loneliness, emptiness, is all that remains here, on a world turned into a graveyard.

She's quiet, too.

The Leaves of Oak do not hide from their bearer - they glint, at the exact center of the crater, where Jupiter met her end on her feet. No evidence remains of Jupiter, save the break in the glass, where roots shattered through to keep her upright.

Makoto Kino has posed:
With Mamoru and Usagi keeping vigil from the crater's edge, Jupiter makes her way down... down... down. Once or twice, her foot slips on the glass, or she's forced to hesitate as it cracks beneath her weight. She simply steadies herself, and continues on.

Finally, she reaches the bottom of the crater.

There, she lowers herself to one knee. From their vantage point, it might be difficult for Usagi or Mamoru to tell whether she's kneeling in some personal moment of reflection or prayer, or maybe just bending to examine something about the broken ground. She reaches down.

There's a glimmer of green light.

Some little while later, when she's made the hike back up to rejoin the other two, the Leaves of Oak are set over her tiara, like some Jovian version of a laurel crown.

"It feels kind of like something should happen," she admits, glancing back over her shoulder for a moment. "Or like I should do something. I have no idea what, though." A beat; she shakes her head. "Sorry to have kept you both waiting."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru's arm-- and cape-- drift around Usagi as she leans into him, and they're silent together, guarding the guardian and keeping the loneliness at bay.

When Makoto straightens and turns, the goldengreen leaf crown glittering at her temples, Mamoru straightens a little further, too, not wanting to let go of Usagi but not wanting to be Obvious Couple at Mako, not here, not now--

--but she's approaching, and she has an admission, and Mamoru shakes his head as he lets his cape fall, then squeezes Usagi and lets go. "No need to be sorry. I don't think anyone here owes any apologies for what happens today."

He squints a little at the crown. "Maybe there's an attack you haven't remembered yet that goes with it."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There's silence, as they watch, and when Makoto bends to one knee, Usagi's eyes close, and the Moon gleams behind her tiara, light pulsin g in her own prayer.

But then, Makoto comes back to them, and the Leaves of Oak glitter in her hair, and for an instant, just an instant, Usagi sees a woman who is gone-but-still-here, and she wonders if anyone who looks at her sees ghosts, too.

"Mamochan could be right," she says, letting her eyes stray from the gleaming artifact. "Maybe there's something new, but you're not ready to use it, yet? When I got my new tiara, I unlocked Moon Twilight Flash - so maybe there's something new that the Leaves can help you with?"

But this probably isn't the place to test that theory. Scratch the probably.

"No more apologies. The only person who owes any apologies is Beryl, and if she gives us one, I'm decking her!"

It's more boisterous than necessary, as if she hopes words alone can shake from them the shadow of grief.

Makoto Kino has posed:
"Okay, okay!" Makoto can't quite manage a laugh, but she comes close. "No more apologizing, I promise." She lifts a hand, as though to touch the Leaves of Oak, only to let it drop self-consciously. "You're probably both right. The other me... I'm not even close to being able to do the kinds of things she did."

Her eyes start to drift back to the crater, but she catches herself.

"I guess I need to start practicing more, and see if I can figure it out. Just... later." Sailor Jupiter makes a wry face. "At Inai-sensei's training sessions or something."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"In the meantime, they also look really cool," Mamoru says, thoroughly admiringly as he leans around to check out the leaves more fully. "Maybe they'll always come with your henshin now! Or maybe they'll vanish, but show back up for your new attack? When you figure it out? I don't know, I'm just guessing wildly."

Then he reaches over to lightly tug one of Sailor Moon's twintails, grinning. "Save some Beryl-decking for the rest of us, will you? Don't hog it all!"

Then he slides a gaze back to Jupiter and his grin widens. "Also, says who, Sublime Thunder-chan?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Maybe they're like an equip in a video game, and they'll make all your attacks stronger from here on out," Usagi hums, thinking about it, and then - "I mean, I still can't do half the things Serenity could do with the Silver Crystal. It's why I have to go Princess if I'm really, really getting serious about the purification, because... I'm not as experienced, you know? But we're getting better! We're all getting to do way more than we did in our pasts."

She grins, too.

"Besides, I bet you can do things Jupiter couldn't!" A proud little puff of her cheeks, "I will save some decking, but only so I can take pictures. Got to immortalize the moment, you know?"

Sublime Thunder-chan earns a wicked cackle - or at least, an attempt at one. "Oh man! Yes! I bet they'll come back next time you henshin, and you'll be even more sublime!"

Warmth and affection, here in this moment. This place might be where they lost, but the fact that they're here now proves that they're all going to keep moving forward.

"Maybe we'll see if we can actually blow out that barrier, if we keep stacking buffs on Makochan."

Makoto Kino has posed:
"Hey," Makoto protests, nearly in a yelp. "That was not just me and you know it. I had both of you lending me power, and Jade-kun too."

The conversation seems to have shaken loose a cloud that had been hanging over Sailor Jupiter since their arrival on the moon; she can smile now, only a little lopsided, and sling an arm around Sailor Moon for a brief, warm squeeze. "Thanks, both of you," she says. "For coming with me... and for not bringing everyone else, too. I mean, I think they all saw the same things we did, mostly, but..."

She trails off, and doesn't look toward the crater again. Instead, after a momentary pause, she leans in a little. "Hey, Usagi-chan," she says in a confidential undertone that Tuxedo Kamen can hear perfectly well. "Does this mean you've been the real rabbit on the moon the whole time?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru laughs, clear and bright and surprised, and he takes a step forward to clamp-noodle hug them both, arms folding around them. "Ridiculous," he says, still laughing as he pulls back. "She's absolutely the real rabbit on the moon, but she only eats the rice cakes..."

And then he takes that step back and turns to look in the direction from whence they came, and he rubs his chin. "I have a question, though. Are we really going to stay here a couple of days? Because... even if everyone brought snacks, I'm pretty sure nobody brought sleeping bags."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Yeah, but it was like sixty percent you," Usagi says cheerfully, absolutely refusing to let Makoto get away from having been absolutely cool.

The fact that Makoto can smile now, even if lopsided, makes this a win, and she snuggles against Sailor Jupiter for the moment an arm is slung over her shoulders. "Of course. Not everything is for everyone, you know?"

They might be a team, but some stuff was still personal, and... and she thinks, it only made sense to not want their entire group to traipse in, on still tender feelings.

It's because of these thoughts that she's not prepared for the absolute betrayal that is a truly terrible joke - especially one that she can't deny! Usagi sputters, even as Tuxedo Kamen laughs, "I - I - oh NO I really am the rabbit on the moon!!! Mama and Papa, why did you give me this name!"

Tsukino Usagi. Tsuki no Usagi. Rabbit of the Moon.

The rabbit princess of the moon.

"All the dots are connecting... oh no all the dots -"

She's laughing now, giggling, fingers bunched under her gloves, and there's a ring on one finger that she hasn't shown off, just yet, and when Mamoru asks that very serious question, the honest answer rolls out, "Mother, I really hope not." pause. "Wow, who said that -"

Makoto Kino has posed:
Group hug! Sailor Jupiter leans into it and grins at Tuxedo Kamen over Sailor Moon's odangos, reassured for the moment that all is well - or at least, will be in time. Well enough that she can chortle a little over their reactions to her terrible joke--

At least until Mamoru asks that question. Then her expression quickly shifts to one of alarmed dismay. "Nobody told me," she says quickly. "I did not bring nearly enough snacks for all that."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Oh good! I must have misunderstood," Mamoru says, lifting up his hands, eyes wide.

(Usagi totally said a couple of days, she did she did--)

"So we're absolutely going back today, excellent. I don't really want to go looking for the bunny's kitchen. And I really don't want to sleep here, imagine the dreams! No, don't, nevermind," he adds hurriedly. "Just. Forget I said anything. I definitely misunderstood."

A pause.

"Let's moonwalk back instead of shuffling."