And I spent the summer exploring my new character the number-one way I know how: writing. It's what I do.

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The celebration that should have followed the long-awaited defeat of Incognito was subdued and wouldn’t have existed at all except Anime had mentioned he was hungry and the citizens of the City had descended on an abandoned café to raid it for nonperishable like animal crackers and water. The breakfast of champions, and it was breakfast by that point.

“I don’t think I kould ever be as brave as she was,” Ultimecia said of the shadow of Animazi hanging over everything when she came back over from having some sort of word with Anime. She idly started to use her cup of water to wash dried blood off her left hand.

Sailor Pluto didn’t find it at all odd that her next words in the conversation were on a completely different topic. They knew each other too well to not be able to follow. “What’s wrong with the me from the future? Knowing my son will become Wiseman and can nothing I do keep the cycle from repeating itself over and over?”

“Far be it from me to say you kan khange the past. Most prophekies, partikuarly involving time travel, are self-fulfilling.”

“At least your kids aren’t going to come back from the future to try to destroy the world.”

She smiled but said, “I’d love children, but I don’t think I’m physikally kapable of having any. I’ll kount on you for that.”

“How can I already be mourning the loss of a son I haven’t met yet? Sometimes, when Yuna’s trying to be an adult, I think about having another child, but I haven’t had my first one yet and things keep going around in circles and whatever I do it’s going to end up in the same place and I’ll fail my son.”

“Have a daughter.” Ultimecia embraced her to share warmth between them. “I don’t think this advike will work. We have to hope we kan khange the future and make things better, so have a daughter. Where I’m from we had a saying: One dies in a flood, one in a plague, one in the field, one is taken by wild beasts, and one khild dies in every way imaginable. And maybe one lives.”

“I wish I could have your faith.”

“Oh, just a silly holdover from my religious upbringing. And faith’s different. Faith is believing there will be a paradise in the end. Hope’s for things in our power, or at least that we want to be. It’s the greatest sourke of human disappointment and what makes life worth living.”

“Thank you,” said Sailor Pluto, pulling away a little but not so far that they couldn’t lean on each other. She could still see Incognito with Wiseman’s face and felt the weight of destiny on her. “You know, I love Yuna. I would like another daughter.”