It seemed like the whole world came to the coronation of King Endymion and Queen Serenity a month later, though really it was mostly only the entire population of the newly-reborn city of Crystal Tokyo. Everything in the city seemed to glitter - the sky was intensely blue, the few glass-and-concrete towers that were still standing after the freeze sparkled like jewels in the sun. The Crystal Palace, which had arisen spontaneously from the power that had renewed the Earth, caught and refracted enormous rainbows of light across the city.

Endymion and Serenity, in full formal royal dress, complete with Serenity's enormous diaphanous wings, stood together on a balcony about six stories off the ground. Helios stood with them, along with the three core members of the Order of the Celestial Crystal - Yumemi, Thetis, and Naru - to conduct the ceremony. The priestesses wore long, drapey white dresses that Usagi had decided looked appropriately priestess-like, and the Shitennou, who were also there on the balconey, had new uniforms, dark blue, which Naru liked much better on Nephrite than the Dark Kingdom gray.

The words were said, simple but elegant gold circlets placed on the heads of the new rulers, and cheers rose up from the assembled citizens of Crystal Tokyo as Endymion and Serenity raised the Celestial Crystal in their hands. Only Helios and the priestesses were close enough to hear Serenity say, "I don't care what Luna said, I still have no idea what I'm doing."

King Endymion smiled at her. "You'll do just fine, Dumpling-head."

* * * * * * * *

Naru and Nephrite lay on their stomachs on a pair of oversized beach towels on a sunny beach on a tiny private island in Fiji. A beach that four months ago (in their memories) had been covered with snow. Their resort cottage, one of three on the islet, was behind them; they lay staring out to sea, watching the brilliant sunlight dance on the blue waves. Naru could feel the last lingering traces of the bone-chilling cold finally leaving her body.

She flexed her fingers in the warm, powdery sand where she had dug them in. "It feels so good to be warm again."

"Mmm," Nephrite responded. Naru assumed he was agreeing with her.

"I hope it never gets that cold again."

"Mmm-mm."

Naru glanced sideways at her husband. He looked like he was almost asleep; she gave up on trying to get him to talk. They had finally made some time to get away for their delayed honeymoon; there would be plenty of time for conversation once they were home in Tokyo again, even with their duties as members of the royal government. Right now it was enough to bask in the tropical sunlight in a cute new bikini with the love of her life dozing next to her.

A bikini that she wouldn't be able to wear many more times. Her newly-discovered powers seemed to have the side-effect of making her acutely aware of what was happening with her body, and Naru knew, without taking any kind of test or counting days on a calendar, that there was a new life growing deep inside of her. She smiled; she would keep her secret to herself, at least for a little while. She would tell Nephrite before too long, but right now she just wanted it to be hers and hers alone. Usagi was also pregnant, and her pregnancy would never be her own private business; she was the Queen, and her baby would be the Heir. The baby belonged to the whole world.

One of Naru's official duties, along with the other two priestesses and Helios, was to hold court with Serenity and Endymion for an hour each afternoon as people who were newly-married or had new babies stood in line to seek a royal blessing from the King and Queen. The day before Naru and Nephrite had left for their long-delayed honeymoon, Umino and Yuki had come through the line for a blessing on their marriage. Naru’s identity was widely known, so Umino hadn't been surprised to see her, and had congratulated her on her own marriage. Naru had felt a sense of satisfaction as she put the Order of the Celestial Crystal's seal on the small decorative blessing scroll and handed it to them with a genuine smile.

Naru's eyelids were growing heavy with sleepiness brought on by the sun and the sound of the waves. She sat up and nudged Nephrite's shoulder.

"Hmm?" He woke up and looked at her sleepily.

"Let's go in. I'm getting sleepy and I don't want to get sunburned."

"Good idea." The look he gave her made her think that he had his own reasons for wanting to retreat to the shelter and privacy of their room. They gathered up their towels and the books they had discarded an hour ago, and with their arms around each other, walked across the warm, sunlit beach to their room.

END