View source for One Last Dance

{{Storybox
|title=  One Last Dance
|author= Dr. Xadium 
|creationdate= 08/25/24
|continuity= SSEU Earth 1337-A
|timeplacement= August 25th, 2024
|synopsis= Motoki makes a deal witht he devil to save the ones he loves. 
|rating= PG-13
|additionalnotes= Part of the 22nd Anniversary Series 
|}}


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Furuhata Motoki was dying. 
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A few hours before, he had been jumped by a gang of thugs while he was taking the trash out from the Crown Cafe. "It'll just be a a quick step outside" he had told Makoto and their infant daughter Mari. 
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But the gang had had other ideas. Coming out of nowhere, they had emerged from the shadows and beat him to within an inch of his life, stealing his wallet and phone, leaving him to bleed out by the dumpster in the alleyway beside the cafe. 
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Fortunately, surveillance cameras at the HOTEL had caught the incident, and medical help was sent his way. 
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Fading in and out of consciousness, Motoki had been rushed to Healing Haven hospital in Roppongi, but that facility, where The Great Healer-a man with the healing powers of Saturn who, it was said, could heal any injuries, no matter how severe- worked, was overwhelmed with patients. 
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So, in a desperate bid to save his life, Motoki was being sent through a portal that had been established alongside Healing Haven by the mysterious Sailor Enclave- a gateway that led to another realm where healing was promised- but one that no one really understood and no one at the HOTEL trusted. 
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As he approached the portal, Motoki could feel the walls of reality thinning around him, and for a moment, he felt his consciousness completely leave his body. 
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<CENTER>* * *</CENTER>
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"Wh--" Motoki groaned, feeling the side of his head, which was slicked with blood. 
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He was so dizzy. 
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Looking around, Motoki saw that he was seated in front of a large mahogany desk which seemed to be located within a featureless white void. 
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"Where... am I?" He asked. 
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"The <I>where</I> isn't important," a woman said from her position across the desk. 
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<I>Had she been there before?</I> He couldn't be sure. 
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Looking into her blood-red eyes, Motoki blinked. 
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"Meioh-san?" he asked, confused. 
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Setsuna Meioh nodded. "Furuhata Motoki-san. We need to talk." She nodded towards a large glowing garnet orb, which sat between the two of them on the desk, nestled in an elaborate silver stand which looked like an inverted pewter crown. 
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Motoki looked at the Orb, and felt himself being drawn into it- or at least his perceptions. He found himself standing in the same alleyway where he had been beaten - except the body on the ground wasn't his - instead it was Makoto's. And baby Mari's. The injuries looked unearthly, like they had been torn apart by some kind of demonic beast. 
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"Mako! Mari!" He cried out, reaching out for them. But his hands passed through them. 
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Pulling his gaze away from the scene, the red of the Garnet Orb switching with the red of Setsuna's eyes, Motoki glared at her angrily, demanding "What is this!?" 
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Setsuna narrowed her eyes. 
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"The future," she replied coldly.
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Motoki's blood ran cold. <I>The future?</I> But that meant that his family--
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"unless we do something about it," she continued after a beat. 
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<I>Then there was hope.</I>
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Motoki looked at Setsuna. "What do we have to do? I'll do anything!" he exclaimed. 
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"Anything?" Setsuna asked dangerously. 
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"Anything!" Motoki repeated, deadly serious. 
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"Then you must leave them," Setsuna replied. "You're not the one who can protect them from the horrors that are coming to our world." 
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"What do you mean?" Motoki demanded, head spinning. "Leave them? What are you--" 
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"Forever." Setsuna replied. "You have to end it with Makoto. You can be a friend, nothing more." 
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"But <I>Why?!</I>" Motoki yelled. "If we know what's coming, why can't I help them!? Why can't you guys--" 
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Setsuna pointed back to the grisly scene in the Orb, which panned over to the right a bit to reveal a similarly savaged Motoki. 
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"Because she'll die trying to protect you," Setsuna replied. "And you die trying to protect Mari. If you stay together, you die together."
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"But there's got to be something--" Motoki protested. 
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"There is," Setsuna replied, waving her hand over the orb. "There's someone <I>else</I> who can defend them in a way you never can." 
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She pointed to a shadowy figure that Motoki slowly recognized. 
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"That's..." 
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"Their light can protect her," Setsuna replied. 
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"But how can I just... walk away?" Motoki cried. "They're my family!" 
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"If you love them, you'll have to. If you want them to live." 
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Setsuna pulled out a piece of parchment and slid it across the desk, along with an dry inkwell that had a needle inside. 
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"Prick your finger and sign the contract," Setsuna instructed. 
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"...then what happens?" Motoki asked apprehensively. 
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Setsuna sighed. "What happens to roughly half the marriages on Earth," she said sympathetically. "A gentle separation. You see the child every other weekend, and move on with your life. And they get to move on with theirs." 
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"And there's no other way?" Motoki asked, despondently. 
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"Of course there is," Setsuna replied. "But this is the only <I>sure way</I>." 
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She tapped the Garnet Orb slightly and the image zoomed in on the clenched, bloody hand of Makoto clutching the lifeless hand of baby Mari. 
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"If you want to take a chance..." Setsuna began helpfully. 
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Motoki took the needle, pricked his finger and signed the contract. 
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<CENTER>* * *</CENTER>
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Motoki and Makoto danced under the stars, he in a fancy tuxedo and her in the fancy, rose-patterned black dress that had always been her favorite. The soft notes of a piano filled the air. 
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The dance floor was flooded with water, that they both somehow knew were their tears. Tears of joy, tears of sadness, tears of hope and tears of parting. The stars were thus mirrored under their feet, and the couple seemed to be dancing slowly amongst the stars. 
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"I have to go..." Motoki whispered softly, sadly.  "I don't know when... or if I might ever make it back from that Enclave place." 
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"I know," Makoto replied, matching his tone, eyes brimming with tears. She clutched his back as they danced, but dared not draw him closer for fear she wouldn't be able to let go.
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"Take care of Mari for me." Motoki said softly, gently releasing her. "And don't... be afraid to be happy." 
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"I will, and I won't" Makoto replied weakly, as Motoki gently removed the wedding ring from her hand, and placing it on a chain, which he placed around her neck. 
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"You... take care..." Makoto said, choking back a sob. "You... be happy too." 
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"I will," Motoki said, kneeling down to give baby Mari-who ironically, had just turned one-a hug, lifting her from her crib for a moment. 
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"Da Da" Mari cooed with a smile, wrapping her little fingers around his. Looking into her blue eyes, he felt that no matter what, things would be all right somehow, no matter where they all ended up. 
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Gently pulling his finger away he set her back in her crib as she burbled happily. 
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As the music faded, Motoki took one long last look at Makoto and little Mari, glad they would both be safe, walking into the mist. 
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Elsewhere, Makoto woke up from her dream-that-she-new-wasn't-a-dream, tears trailing down her cheeks. 
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<CENTER>* * *</CENTER>
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In the void, a figure stepped out from behind Setsuna, their eyes flashing red with the power of Chaos. 
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Enoshima Junko nodded, grinning like a Cheshire cat.  
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"Excellent work, Setsuna. Now the other half of the equation. Split the atom of Uranus and Neptune... and then, as promised, your powers will be returned to you a thousandfold." 
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Walking away, she grinned. <I>And then the true era of despair will finally begin...</I>
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