Chapter Fourteen: Closing the Circle

I was in the kitchen, making a pot of tea, when I felt Setsuna's presence. With a soft chuckle, I set out a third cup and turned to face her.

"Good morning. What brings you here so early?"

"You'll know in just a minute." She smiled warmly and added, "There won't be any battles today. Do you remember what day it is?"

"Umm...David?"

"It's October 29, Dad."

My eyes got wide as I remembered, just as I heard Ami's voice coming from upstairs, telling me to call a cab. I dashed past Setsuna, who simply smiled knowingly. How could I forget? Today was the day our daughter was to be born.

As I ran into the bedroom, Ami was looking miserably up at me from the edge of the bed, which was completely soaked through. I gathered her into my arms and held her close, as a spasm swept across her abdomen. She winced and smiled bravely at me.

"It's...not bad. How long until our transport arrives?" Oops. I'd forgotten to phone.

"How long will it take you to dress?" Setsuna asked from the doorway.

I guided Ami to her chair and pulled the dress she'd decided to wear from the closet, then made sure her hospital bag was ready to go.

"Trust a man to forget some of the things you need," Setsuna teased as she moved to the dresser to retrieve underwear and other necessities while Ami was trying to clean herself up.

Between the three of us, we finally managed to get ready to go, and Setsuna led us, through her castle, to the hospital. Ami's mother was already waiting for us when we arrived, and she was checked into a room in less time than it had taken for us to get there. I guess my nervousness showed, because Dr. Mizuno sent me away to get some tea while she was examining her daughter.

By the time I returned, I was more in control of myself, and they let me into the room to hold Ami as her labor dragged on. I guess I wasn't as collected as I'd thought, though, since I wasn't the one who remembered to call the others - she was. They all arrived within minutes - I suspected Setsuna had something to do with that - and Dr. Mizuno had to restrict how many could be in the room with us at a time.

Ami struggled all day, and I wished I could take some of the pain for her. She laughed one time between contractions and kissed my hand, reassuring me that it didn't really hurt all that much - only to do a good job of crushing my hand when the next contraction hit her. By mid-afternoon, Dr. Mizuno had cleared the room of everyone except me, and I think she'd have kicked me out if Ami hadn't made it clear that she wasn't going to let go of me.

When the delivery happened, it surprised everyone. I was holding Ami as another contraction hit her, and suddenly our daughter was squalling on the bed between her legs. Dr. Mizuno scooped her up and cleaned her, then gave her to Ami for nursing while she was tying off and cutting the cord. I never felt as much love for anything or anyone as I did at that moment, as I watched my heart's light and our daughter together.

As I watched them, my breath caught; Dr. Mizuno must have thought I was having a delayed reaction to witnessing the birth, because she steered me to a chair before I could fall down. How could I tell her what I'd suddenly understood? How could I tell her about the recognition that had washed over me when I saw the color of my daughter's hair and eyes? How could I tell her about the pain I knew her daughter - my beloved - would be suffering shortly? Suddenly, I understood why Setsuna was so secretive. It's hard to know what the future holds, and know that you can't change it without hurting those you love far more than the pain you already knew they were going to suffer.

**It hurts. It hurts far more than any physical pain.**

**How will you do it?**

**When her grandmother takes her so Ami can rest. I'll be one of the nurses.**

**Will...was...her childhood happy?**

**As much as an orphan's can be. Queen Serenity made sure of it.**

**Thank you.**

Ami was finally asleep. The aftermath of the birth was harder on her than the actual birth had been, and she was exhausted. Despite her exhaustion, she had insisted on crawling out of bed to sleep in my lap as soon as the nurses had left. I could hardly deny her that - and held her to my heart as she slept.

Eventually, I pushed the recliner back so we wouldn't fall out and joined my love in sleep. As I slept, I dreamed of our daughter, growing up in a palace on the Moon, manifesting her power as her mother had, and growing into a woman who was so strong that all who knew her were in awe of her.

I felt something - no, someone - in the shadows, and opened my eyes. The presence stepped closer, and took my offered hand. As she knelt beside our chair, I could see that Setsuna's eyes were red with tears, and urged her to lay her head beside Ami's.

"I'm so sorry, Father," she murmured. "I couldn't warn you or Mother before it happened - her pain would have been so much greater if I had."

"I understand, Pumpkin," I murmured gently, stroking her hair. "I understood...as soon as I saw that you were our child."

I took a deep breath to still the sobs that threatened to break forth. My family needed me right now. I could grieve for Setsuna's lost childhood later.

"Bill?" Ami stirred sleepily and mumbled. "I had the strangest dream...."

"It wasn't a dream, Mother," Setsuna murmured, releasing my hand to take Ami's. "I'm here. And I'll never leave you again."

"Mmm...that's good, Setsuna. I love you," Ami mumbled as she snuggled closer to me. Suddenly, she stiffened and sat up, her eyes wide. "Setsuna? My baby? My baby!"

As if that were a signal, Sailor Mars, Sailor Venus, and Sailor Jupiter burst into the room and took protective stances around Ami. Setsuna sighed, kissed us both, and stood, just as Usagi came running into the room with a worried look on her face.

"Would the three of you just relax?" Usagi demanded. "What's going on?"

"Someone stole Ami's baby!" Sailor Mars yelled. "We're here to make sure nobody hurts HER!"

"Nobody's going to hurt her," Usagi said firmly. "Setsuna would have told us if that were going to happen."

"How can you know that? She doesn't tell us half the things she should!" Mars was definitely on the verge of losing her temper.

"Because she would tell us about anything that could hurt her mother," I said, drawing a collection of shocked looks from everyone in the room except Setsuna and Usagi. I looked into Ami's eyes and squeezed her gently. "That's right, Angel. Setsuna's mother. You."

Setsuna turned, revealing to me just how much Mars' accusation had hurt her, and I offered her my free hand. She knelt beside us and slid her arms around Ami.

"I'm sorry, Mother," she murmured softly. "I couldn't find any way to do it without hurting you. All I could do was reduce your pain, I couldn't eliminate it."

Usagi gathered the others and spoke softly and urgently to them. They finally relented and returned to their mundane appearance, then filed out of the room, shooting angry looks in Setsuna's direction.

**Thank you, Princess.**

**You can thank me by loving your wife and daughter with all your heart.**

Usagi threw a grin my way and closed the door behind her, leaving the three of us to find our way together.

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Disclaimer: Sailor Moon, Sailor Senshi, and all terms, names, etc. associated with the series are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha. I make no claim to them and this work of fanfiction should not be seen as making a claim.