Forgotten Forever by Kihin Ranno

Part Eight: Fragile Hope

Now that Karaberas was being tended to by both Beruche and Rubeus, surprising as that was, Cooan was free to take matters into her own hands. She pushed past Petz furiously, her heels stomping against the metal floor of the ship. She might have still been suffering from the after-effects of Mars's assault, which normally would have meant she was still quite weak, but this was different. One of her sisters had been nearly slaughtered. Had she been kicked around, Cooan would have laughed along with Petz, taunting Karaberas on her stupidity of going out alone when things were getting so desperate. But seeing Karaberas looking so frail and all too near a place they sworn they would never brush against again was entirely different.

Hurting her sisters was one thing; it could be forgiven, even lauded. But that Cooan would not let stand.

She continued stalking across the ship until she finally reached the hold where their prisoners were being kept. She was not surprised to see that two of them were sleeping. They had taken to sleeping in shifts for some time now. It was a bit unnerving to see Mars waiting up for her, standing as close to the bars as the collar allowed.

Mars stared at her for a good long while, her violet eyes betraying nothing. The pair of them stood scowling into each other's gazes in relative silence, the distant sound of shouting and Cooan's ragged breathing their only background noise. Finally, after a whole minute of inactivity, Mars made a move.

She smiled.

Cooan curled her fingers, her nails itching to draw blood from her unmarred white flesh. "I'll drag that off your face if you don't, bitch."

"You didn't get her," Mars gloated, paying no mind to Cooan's threats.

"Shut it," Cooan snarled, moving forward.

Infuriatingly, Mars didn't even look worried or even aware that she was being threatened. It was as if she didn't even see Cooan as a threat anymore.

Her past was foretelling the future. That was exactly how the future Soldier of Fire had always looked at Cooan - like she wasn't worth the energy to get worked up over. The actual fight was another matter with savage curses and spilt blood, but the inevitable stare down before that all began was always the same. Mars looked at her like she was a child who threatened to kill a god.

"You got us, but you didn't get her," Mars continued, practically laughing. "You couldn't capture Sailor Venus when she knew you were coming."

"I said, shut up," Cooan continued, shortening the distance between them, her steps like foreboding thunder filling the chamber.

Now Mars laughed without shame. "I only wish I'd had a little warning. I would have used you for kindling if I'd gotten the chance." She paused, tilting her head to the side. "I wonder what Venus and Sailor Moon used your sister for." She smirked. "Or is she all used up?"

"Shut up!" Cooan screeched, leaping forward and grabbing Mars around the neck. She tried to lean back to avoid the grasp, but Cooan moved faster than she'd expected. Though it was tempting just to choke every breath and quip out of her throat, Cooan knew that Mars had to stay alive. So she drew the younger girl forward and held her fast against the bars, giving her enough room to breathe and to scream.

Jupiter and Mercury finally stirred. Jupiter was on her feet first, but Cooan didn't let either of them get very far. With a snap of her fingers, she set off their collars as well, smiling as they dropped flat to the ground, writhing and shrieking in agony. Cooan watched as electric sparks and currents circled their limbs, igniting every nerve in their body with a concentrated jolt. She imagined it was the worst pain anyone could experience.

It was pleasant to watch.

"Who is she?" Cooan hissed, her eyes boring into Mars's, which were wide open.

She took a long, shuddering breath. To her credit, she didn't play dumb and ask who Cooan was talking about. "I. Will. Never. Tell."

Cooan bared her teeth and snapped her fingers again, this time turning up the voltage instead of shutting them off. No one had ever done that to the prisoners before, and she could instantly see why. She was sure she never would have been able to endure it without begging for mercy or giving people what they wanted. Their eyes bulged and veins stood straight on end. She even saw a blood vessel in Mercury's eye rupture, but Cooan felt no pity. Only satisfaction at their pain, and frustration that none of them even considered begging.

Cooan turned her eyes back to Mars, watching as a tear filtered down her face. Something told her that it was not from any physical pain. "Tell me who she is."

"No!" Rei growled. "You could do this for years, and I still wouldn't say her name. And they would never tell you either." She took a breath, physically trembling. "So just stop it. Nothing will work."

"Everyone has a breaking point," Cooan countered. "And those collars have one more level on them." She paused, lips twisting in a cruel smile. "Tell me her name, or I'll let you see what fried Senshi look like."

"Rei, don't!" Mercury shouted, twisting on her side and holding her knees.

Jupiter kicked her legs. "We can take it!"

"Actually, I don't think you can," Cooan said coolly. She held up her fingers, ready to snap. "But let's find out shall we?"

Rei's eyes darted over to Cooan's hand, bright with fear.

Jupiter and Mercury reached out for each other and clutched desperately, preparing each other for the worst.

Cooan waited one more second before she finally started to move.

"Cooan, stop!"

She whirled and saw Rubeus running towards her. He took one look at the scene and waved his hand, shutting off the collars that caused so much grief. Neither of them stopped screaming. They just got quieter, so it was easier to hear them sobbing.

Rubeus finished crossing over to Cooan and grabbed her arm, simultaneously knocking Mars to the ground. The red Senshi toppled over with a grunt and instantly curled into a ball. Cooan watched as Jupiter physically covered the girl with her body and Mercury inched closer, whispering fervently to their friend.

She curled her fingers reflexively, letting her nails slowly grow. She turned to Rubeus, so blinded with rage she almost wanted to attack him as well. After all, he was the one who ruined it. He was the one who stopped her when he was really the one who should have laughed the loudest at their pain.

"Let go of me!" Cooan screamed, trying to wrench away from his persistent grasp. "They know her name! They know who did that to Karaberas! We have to get it from them so we can find her, make her pay for--"

Of all the things she expected Rubeus to do, drawing her into an embrace was not anywhere near the top ten.

Cooan froze between his arms, her limbs and back so stiff that she felt they could break. Her cheek was pressed against his shoulder, and she could hear him breathe, steady and soothing against her chest. His arms didn't just circle her; they seemed to shelter her, as if nothing could harm her as long as she stood against him.

True, she fancied Rubeus, but she had never in her wildest dreams thought that anything would actually come of it. She was the youngest, the least experienced, and as Karaberas loved to mention, the most annoying. She never thought she would ever find herself in his arms, so even though a part of her knew the move wasn't romantic in nature, she could trick herself into believing it was. It would make everything so much easier.

"It's all right, Cooan," he whispered in her ear, his voice dark and soothing like chocolate. "Karaberas will be all right."

Cooan took a deep breath and closed her eyes, taking full advantage of her position and leaning against him. "But Sailor Moon--"

"We'll find her," Rubeus assured her, his palms flush against her back. "And then Demando will do as he will with her."

"You'll never get her," a pained voice rasped from behind the bars. Cooan knew it was Mars. "Venus won't--"

"There is only so much Aino Minako can do," Rubeus interrupted coldly. Cooan almost found herself smiling at the gasps that followed. "We'll find your precious leader just as we found you four, and we will have her because that was why we came here."

Someone spat on the ground. "Go to hell," Jupiter snarled.

"Can't," Rubeus said easily as he led Cooan out of the room. "You're taking up all the room."

Cooan leaned heavily on Rubeus as he brought her out of the chamber. She knew it was weak and her other sisters would rail at her for it later, but she didn't care. She liked feeling taken care of for once, and she wanted to hold on to this tender side of Rubeus for as long as he allowed her to see it. She knew it was only a matter of seconds before he would recoil and she'd be staring into cold eyes and a twisted smirk.

They stopped after awhile, and Rubeus repositioned her. She stood in front of him, arms hanging limp as he kept his arms on her shoulders. She looked up, and already she saw the barriers coming back. Part of her wanted to rip them away, but another part of her knew they were necessary. Rubeus hadn't become the most feared warrior on Nemesis because he was friendly, after all.

"That was very stupid, Cooan," Rubeus informed her plainly, his eyes narrowed into tiny slits. "If anything had happened--"

"Mars wouldn't have let me go that far," Cooan interrupted quietly, her voice like steel. "The Senshi protect their own."

Rubeus shook his head. "She would have kept her mouth shut, and we would have lost two very important pieces of our plot."

"You don't know that," Cooan said, her temper starting to make a comeback.

Rubeus looked directly into her eyes, and while Cooan couldn't tell what exactly about him changed, she sensed the change in his demeanor. Her knees threatened to rebel and crumble while her stomach spun itself into a knot. She swallowed even though her mouth was dryer than ash. "If Sailor Moon is who we suspect... Mars would be the last to betray her."

Cooan felt her hands start to shake. If Sailor Moon is who they suspected... If she was the queen, Rubeus was right. Mars, arguably the most loyal of the four, would never have turned on her. She would have let two friends die for the sake of another. And she would have thought it right.

Cooan sighed in disgust. "Forgive me, Master Rubeus."

He nodded. "Do not speak of this again, and I won't think about it." He pulled away, letting his arms drop to his sides. He started to walk away, one of his hands winding around to rub the back of his neck. "Get some rest, Cooan."

Cooan looked after him, knowing she should let him go and yet wanting to ask him to stay. She wanted him to hold her again and let him reassure her that they were doing all they could. He wanted him to repeat over and over again that Karaberas was going to be all right until she believed. And she wanted him to tell her that she wasn't just a stupid child, that she was good enough to be in his life and good enough to take Mars's if she chose. She just wanted him to notice her, to favor her for once. She just wanted him.

But in the end, she couldn't say any of those things, so she merely nodded and turned away. "Yes, Master Rubeus," she whispered, too quiet for him to hear how thick her voice was with tears.

That night she went to bed and cried for her foolishness, for her loneliness, and for the fact that no matter how much she wanted to be, she was never going to be good enough.

-----

After Cooan and Rubeus finally left, Makoto allowed herself to shudder. She had been watching Rubeus from the moment he appeared. Out of all the girls, she had the most cause to be wary of him after what he had done. She had probably been just as surprised as Cooan when he took the raving girl into his arms, holding on in hopes of grounding her.

But Makoto had watched his eyes, and she knew. Nothing about what he had just done was sincere. It was all a ploy to keep her in his control. It was obvious that he was important to her, and he took advantage of that in the worst way possible. He twisted her feelings and used them against her, making sure that she didn't make a move he didn't approve of and stopping him from doing anymore damage.

Makoto was torn between being thankful and being sickened by the move.

"He's the worst," Makoto hissed quietly, worried about being overheard. "Did you see his eyes? They're so..." she trailed off, unable to form the right words.

Ami coughed and spit out a mouthful of blood. She nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean," she muttered, resting her forehead against Rei's shoulder.

"They're dark windows to a disgusting soul," Rei said bitterly, her voice trembling. "But I don't know about him being the worst."

Makoto narrowed her eyes. Even though she was exhausted, she wasn't going to back down from this. "How can you say that? He's playing all of them like pawns on a chess board. Of course he's the--"

"He's not the one who threatened to kill you two if I didn't tell him who Sailor Moon was," Rei snapped, equally concerned about who was listening. "He's the one who stopped it."

"On someone else's orders," Ami whispered drowsily. Out of all of them, she was easily the worst off, and the amount of trauma her body had just been put through was not doing anything to help her.

Makoto nodded in agreement. "If he didn't have to keep us alive, he would have done something like that by now. He was probably secretly enjoying it, the slimy--"

Rei pushed herself up as far on her elbows as she could manage under Makoto's weight and slammed her palms down on the floor, effectively silencing Makoto. She screwed her face up so harshly that Makoto's ached in sympathy, and even more so when she realized it was because Rei was trying desperately hard not to cry. "Didn't you just hear what I said?" she said loudly, her voice cracking like a shattering mirror. "She was making me choose between you two and Sailor Moon. She made me decide who was more important and I... And I..." She curled in on herself, entrenching her fingers in her black silk hair and yanking hard. "I'm so sorry," she whispered fiercely. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

"It's all right," Ami assured her, reaching forward and stroking her hands. "We told you to. We don't blame you."

Rei shook her head and kept repeating those three words like a mantra, rocking back and forth and employing every trick in the book to keep so much as one more tear from falling down her cheek. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

Makoto looked up at Ami, her eyes wide with confusion. Finally, they both seemed to realize the truth at the same time. They might have told Rei what to do, but she had made her decision long before they got the words out.

Makoto sighed sadly, her eyes fluttering closed. Her throat started to close and her eyes burned with the knowledge, but she couldn't be angry at Rei. In the end, it didn't make that much difference, logically.

But that didn't stop Makoto's heart from breaking.

Still, she leaned forward again, wrapping Rei up in her arms and watching as Ami did the same. At first, she tried to pull away from them, spurning their comfort in the face of what she'd done. But in the end she stayed where she was, whispering the same words over and over again for the rest of the night.

She never shed a tear.

-----

"I'm telling you, I'm fine."

Normally, Mamoru wouldn't speak with nearly so much conviction because deep down, he would be completely aware that he was just living up to the old adage that doctors (or in his case, med students) made the worst patients. However, this time, he knew he was telling the truth. He certainly couldn't say that he had never felt better, but considering the circumstances, he felt remarkably well. In fact, sometimes he could almost forget that just days before there had been a danger of him needing surgery, maybe even dying.

Actually, he couldn't forget that at all, but sometimes he could force himself not to think about it.

His physician, Dr. Yakamura, heaved a long, tired sigh and literally scratched his head. "Normally, I would say you were full of it, but... I have to concur. Aside from some bumps and bruises, you seem to be fine."

Mamoru found his shoulders relaxing when the doctor confirmed his beliefs. He hadn't realized how tense he had been, how anxious he was to get out of that hospital. Of course, if the doctor knew the extent of what was going on, he couldn't have blamed Mamoru in the slightest. With two girls missing and the possibility that he might be next on the list still weighing heavily on his mind and mysterious people popping into his room in the middle of the night, he was allowed to not want to be so much of an easy target. True, he and Motoki had theorized that Mamoru really ought to have been taken first, and Motoki had nearly talked him into believing that the visitation could have been a dream. Nonetheless, it didn't make Mamoru any more inclined to be laid up in a hospital bed. As a matter of fact, he wondered if his sheer desire to get out of there had done something to speed up his healing process.

Mamoru closed his eyes, shoving those thoughts aside. If he didn't answer soon, Dr. Yakamura was going to be convinced that his head injuries really were more pronounced than they thought. "Great. So I can go now?"

He didn't respond immediately, and the hesitation made Mamoru feel ill at east. "Medically speaking? Yes." The doctor paused, his mouth twitching with worry, causing his newly grown mustache to dance across his top lip.

"You're wondering how this happened, aren't you?" Mamoru deadpanned.

The doctor snorted. "Wondering is putting it mildly," Dr. Yakamura said, shoving his hands into the deep pockets of his lab coat. He rocked back and forth on his heels for a moment before saying, "I'm baffled, befuddled, bewildered, and just about any other b-word you could throw in there."

Mamoru let loose a sigh, pushing his hand through his hair and then quickly regretting it. It had been a long time since he'd had a proper shower. He removed his hand and discreetly wiped it on the sheets even though it probably wouldn't do any good. "You must know that I'm just as confused as you are."

Dr. Yakamura shook his head, tutting as if lamenting some great tragedy. "You would have gotten a lollipop if you'd been able to come up with another b-word."

Mamoru twitched. "Dr. Yakamura."

"Right, right. Well, I didn't know that actually, Mamoru. I had been wondering if you were taking some sort of..." he trailed off in search of the right terms, but Mamoru had a feeling he knew where this was going. "Well, I thought maybe you were taking some supplement that could account for this."

Mamoru raised an eyebrow and somehow managed resist the urge to laugh. "Last I checked, steroids didn't make you heal faster."

"Not to mention, you're much too placid to be on them," Dr. Yakamura added, nodding in agreement. "No, I was actually sincerely considering if you were taking some black market super-drug, but there's definitely nothing in your system that we didn't put into your body."

Mamoru stared at the doctor for a moment. For one thing, the notion that Mamoru was mixed up in anything like that was completely cracked, but for another thing, he could tell by the twinkle in Dr. Yakamura's eye that he had employed some underhanded technique to discern all that. Finally, Mamoru allowed himself a chuckle. "Unauthorized blood tests on an unsuspecting patient. You're lucky I don't have your license revoked."

Dr. Yakamura scoffed, waving his hand vaguely. "And blow your chance at residency at this hospital? Not likely." He paused, his mouth fidgeting again. Mamoru found himself wondering if it was possible for a mustache to do a rumba, but he quickly forgot about it when he heard the doctor speak.

"Honestly, Mamoru. I need to know. Are you mixed up in anything?"

Mamoru was about to respond with an absolute negative, when he rethought it. He couldn’t say no in entirely good conscience after all. Yes, he was definitely in some sort of situation with Sailor Senshi breaking into his room in the middle of the night and mysterious beings bestowing unknown favors on him. The problem was that he had no idea just what he had gotten himself into or how he'd even managed to do that. And of course, he couldn't explain it to the doctor. Even trying to would result in a trip to the psych ward.

"I'm not in the Yakuza if that's what you're asking," Mamoru answered at last, knowing that this was probably what the doctor was hinting at.

Dr. Yakamara waved a hand, dismissing this assurance. "As if you'd tell me if you were."

Mamoru shrugged. "If I lose any fingers, you'll know if I was lying."

"Or I can assume you're lousy with kitchen knives," Dr. Yakamura sighed. "No matter what, you'll have your secrets. And what would Chiba Mamoru be without his secrets?"

Mamoru frowned at that statement. Dr. Yakamura had been with him since the car accident, and he was the closet thing to a father Mamoru had. Of course, in all actuality, Dr. Yakamura was more like a fun uncle who dropped into his life unexpectedly, though he always seemed to make things better. More often than not, it was actually Mamoru dropping into the hospital for a sprained ankle in soccer, a head injury from a motorcycle wipe out, or a near-death experience thanks to some love-starved aliens and their gigantic tree. Dr. Yakamura knew how many holes there were in Mamoru's past, and yet he was constantly accused of keeping secrets. Sometimes, Mamoru was tempted to reveal uncomfortably candid facts about himself just to dispel the good doctor's notions of him. Mamoru never went through with it, of course. The reward was not as good as the price he would have to pay.

Dr. Yakamura reached over and clapped him on the shoulder, a gesture of familiarity that always unnerved Mamoru. "How about next time I see you, you're in one piece?"

Mamoru arched an eyebrow and pointed at Dr. Yakamura's upper lip. "How about next time I see you, you get rid of that fuzzy caterpillar that's taken up residence on your face?"

"Ha ha," Dr. Yakamura muttered. He picked up Mamoru's chart and gave it one last glance. "Well, you're basically free to go once you get your pants on. I still don't know how you did it, kid."

Mamoru shrugged, holding off on saying something about the pants comment. "I've always been a fast healer," he commented, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.

"Not this fast. Nobody ought to heal this quickly," Dr. Yakamura reminded him, leaning over and expertly removing Mamoru's IV and everything else he was hooked up to. That done, he pointed at Mamoru and added, "You ought to rub off some of this magic on your friend."

Mamoru blinked, pausing just before his feet were about to touch the ground. "My friend?"

"Furuhata Motoki. Came in late last night."

Mamoru felt his stomach drop through the floor and down several stories. Everything seemed to grow hazy for a minute as he tried to make sense of what the doctor just told him. Of course, there was nothing too difficult about it, but Mamoru couldn't reconcile his friend Motoki with this other Motoki that had apparently wound up in the hospital. It didn't make sense. Motoki never got sick, and he certainly never did anything stupid enough to get involved in an accident.

Finally, Mamoru managed to get his lips to cooperate somewhat. "What?" he croaked, unable to get anything other than monosyllabic words to come out of his throat for the time being.

"I don't have all the details. It's not my case," Dr. Yakamura said, flipping through Mamoru's chart even though he didn't have to anymore, a sure sign that he was avoiding eye contact. That meant that Motoki wasn't just in for an appendicitis or any other conventional ailment.

"How is he?" Mamoru forced himself to ask, dreading the answer and imagining all kinds of horrible things in the time it took the doctor to answer the question.

Dr. Yakamura reached forward and laid a hand on Mamoru's shoulder. It was meant to bring him comfort, but it really only left him feeling cold. "He's going to be just fine, Mamoru." He paused, clearing his throat. "Or so I hear anyway."

The assurance was helpful, but it wasn't good enough. Mamoru vaulted out of bed to where his clothes were, pulling them on as quickly as he could in spite of how his muscles cried out in protest. He was better, but he was hardly fully healed. He could tell he was going to be sore for about another week, and there was no telling how long his bruises would stay. But he didn't have time for caution when his best friend was lying in a hospital bed, knocked down from God only knew what.

"Don't throw your back out getting your pants on," Dr. Yakamura advised gruffly.

"I have to see--"

"I know, I know," Dr. Yakamura said calmly, obviously trying to inject some of that serenity into Mamoru's veins. It wasn't working. "I'll take care of your discharge papers if you promise me one thing."

"What's that?" Mamoru asked, not paying much attention as he struggled with his belt.

"Next time I see you, don't come in on a stretcher."

Mamoru looked up from his panicked state, staring at the doctor. It was rare when the jokes stopped and sincerity shown through, and Mamoru was not foolish enough to let the moment pass without acknowledgment. He smiled and nodded, regarding the man he could credit with saving his life twice now with an admiration that soothed his anxiety for the time being. "I promise, Doctor."

"I'll hold you to it," Dr. Yakamura said, giving him a small wave. Then without so much as a formal goodbye, Dr. Yakamura was gone. Mamoru knew with certainty that he would not say hello when they met again, even though he had promised to be conscious and relatively healthy when that happened.

For some reason, Mamoru felt uneasy about his promise. He almost felt like it was going to be a hard one to keep.

-----

Beruche had been up with Karaberas most of the night. She had never been worried that the woman would pull through; Karaberas was rather similar to a cockroach in that respect. It was nigh impossible to actually kill her. But the amount of damage had been rather extensive, and it had taken a great deal of time to even begin to set her on the path towards getting well. Finally, after using an impossible amount of bandages, salve, and sedatives, Beruche could sit back and relax for a moment.

And of course, Petz chose that exact moment to appear.

Beruche glanced at her coolly, pursing her lips. "If you've come to kick her while she's down, you'll be wasting your time. She's out of commission for awhile."

Petz sniffed and folded her arms across her chest, leaning against the wall. "It's just like you to assume the worst of me."

"The worst is usually true for you," Beruche countered, gathering up the remaining scraps to be thrown away in her arms. "Especially when it comes to Karaberas."

Beruche could feel Petz scowling at her, but she didn't turn around to acknowledge the look. It was unsettling of course because Petz was more powerful than her and probably wasn't exaggerating by much when she said she could obliterate Beruche given enough time. But if Beruche had learned one thing from living with her sisters, she knew that she couldn't give them the slightest indication that they bothered her. Cooan did, and look how much trouble she had to put up with.

"I came here because I thought you'd want to know what all that shrieking was about last night," Petz said finally.

Beruche laughed. "I assumed that either you or Cooan went against orders and tried to drag Sailor Moon's name out of our guests." She glanced over her shoulder as she finished clearing away the mess and smiled. "I take it wasn't you then."

Petz curled her lip. "As if I'd be stupid enough to go against orders. Cooan's lucky Master Rubeus didn't cite her for insubordination."

"Why did you think I needed to know this exactly?" Beruche asked suddenly. She had no patience to deal with Petz's ranting that day. She was tired and she wanted to sleep, and if she let Petz go on, it was never going to happen.

Petz just stared. "I thought you'd want to--"

"Since when have you ever given any consideration to if I'm kept up on events?" Beruche interrupted. "More importantly, I heard the screams. Everyone heard the screams, and we all knew who was making them. It wouldn't take someone like Saffir--"

"I just thought you'd want to know what a fool your little sister is!" Petz yelled, the vein on the side of her neck bulging a bit.

Beruche narrowed her eyes, curious as to why Petz had exploded like that. It took her a moment to realize her misstep in mentioning the prince's brother. Perhaps on another day, she would have apologized for her insensitivity. That morning, Beruche was quite sure she couldn't have cared less. "I've been aware for some time, Petz. I suppose it's the price of being the youngest."

"You never had that problem," Petz grumbled, perhaps a bit bitterly.

Beruche smiled widely, shutting her eyes. "That's because I'm a prodigy, remember?"

Petz snorted, tossing her hair a bit. "A prodigy. Right. A little luck at chess, and everyone thinks you're a genius."

Beruche shook her head, clicking her tongue. "You're just upset because you were no good at it. But look at it this way, Petz. No one can make small children cry quite like you do." She covered her mouth, giggling at her own joke, which she was certain would have been just as funny if she hadn't been so exhausted.

Petz practically snarled at her in response. "Fine. I don't know why I thought it was so important to talk to you anyway. I'm leaving. Have fun with your patient." She spun around and started to slink out of the room, her back still tight with anxiety.

Beruche sighed, dabbing at her eyes with her fingertips. "Just one more thing, Petz."

The older woman looked over her shoulder, looking vaguely curious as to why Beruche would have stopped her. "Eh?"

Beruche smiled knowingly, gesturing smoothly at Karaberas's bed. "If you wanted to see how she was doing, you didn't have to make up such a ridiculous excuse."

Petz's face darkened to a shade Beruche identified as almost that of an eggplant. "Like I care how that stupid--"

"Whatever," Beruche said cheerfully, waving at her sister. "Good night, Petz!" With that, she had no more reason to stick around, so she teleported back to her room, prepared to have a good, long nap before Karaberas was due to awaken. And though she normally would have been irritated with Petz for putting off her sleep, Beruche decided it had all be worth it for that look on her older sister's face.

-----

As it turned out, Dr. Yakamura hadn't been able to handle as much of Mamoru's discharge as either of them would have liked. Mamoru's signature was needed on an insurmountable amount of paperwork, and every person he met during the process seemed to think his discharge was some sort of clerical error. Finally, he’d asked to sign something that would waive the hospital’s liability should something horrible happen to him, and that had sped everything up a great deal. Eventually, Mamoru was able to get himself checked out and find out where Motoki had been taken. Mamoru felt a considerable amount of relief when he found out that the Intensive Care Unit was not involved.

Upon finding out Motoki's room number, Mamoru had quite literally sprinted to get there. His lungs were not happy about it, particularly since he had indulged in coughing fits just by laughing too much just days earlier. Nevertheless, he made it there without feeling as if he was going to pass out, although his legs throbbed.

Mamoru barely managed to stop himself by grabbing on to the door's molding, calling out, "Motoki!"

Motoki looked up from his magazine, bandages wound around his head so that he looked like a parody of a wounded soldier. He smiled at Mamoru wryly, recognizing and reveling in his obvious concern. "You are so lucky I wasn't sleeping, Chiba. If I had been woken up, I would have kicked your invalid ass." He paused, the evidence before him slowly clicking into place. "Which appears to not be so invalid. Shouldn't you be in bed?"

Mamoru shook his head and strode in. "No, I got released."

"Released?!" Motoki yelled, his pale skin turning pink. "Are your doctors sane? Were they even doctors?"

Mamoru sighed, long since tired of this line of questioning. "Motoki, I'm fine. You're the one in the hospital bed now." He sat down in the chair positioned next to the bed, scooting it closer to Motoki as if any distance between the two could result in catastrophe.

"Only until the end of the day," Motoki assured, taking pity on him at last. For whatever reason, it didn't bring Mamoru all that much comfort. "They wanted to keep me for observation as they like to say." Motoki rolled his eyes. "Promise me that when we are both the best doctors this hospital has to offer, that you will hit me every time I say that."

Mamoru nodded dumbly. "Yeah, fine. Whatever." He took a breath and looked up at Motoki's head, craning his neck to see the back of it. He studied how the bandage had been wrapped, and found that there wasn't much he could have done to improve it. He also saw that there were some blood stains, though Mamoru was willing to bet that they had been much worse to begin with. He swallowed and looked away, damning his own stupid curiosity. "Motoki, what happened?"

Motoki opened his mouth and then promptly closed it again. After giving the question another moment’s consideration, he frowned. "You know, I'm not entirely sure myself."

Mamoru had never had any patience with anyone else being vague. He preferred to deal in specifics as long as they weren't specifics about himself, and Motoki dodging the question like that did nothing to soothe his already foul mood. He hunched his back and snapped, "Motoki, don't--"

"All right, calm down," Motoki insisted, waving his hands around. It took Mamoru a moment to see that he was wincing in pain. "Not so loud, all right?"

"Fine, fine," Mamoru grumbled, looking away again and feeling unreasonably guilty.

Motoki waited a moment before nodding. "There's not much to tell I suppose. Long story short, Minako apparently fell asleep at the Crown yesterday and didn't wake up until I was about to close. It was past her curfew, and she needed to get going, but I insisted on walking her home."

"How gallant of you," Mamoru drawled, wondering if this was the sort of thing he was supposed to tell Reika about.

Sensing the underlying themes of the statement, Motoki glared. "It wasn't like that. I just thought it was... dangerous for her to be out alone." He paused, the lines of his jaw sharpening. He seemed to chew on the inside of his mouth for a minute, no doubt engaging in some inner dialogue Mamoru wasn't privy to. He was just about to demand that Motoki spit it out when he did.

"Makoto got taken too, you know."

Mamoru felt the blood in his face pool somewhere around his ankles. His heart rate slowed and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He didn't know what he had been expecting Motoki to say, but it certainly wasn't that. "She was the third victim?"

Motoki nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "She's been missing for a few days now," he sighed angrily, his limbs getting tense. "The police still aren't willing to make if official from what I understand, but her apartment's empty and no one's heard from her."

Mamoru ran his hands down his face, the gravity of the situation bearing down on him like a building he was meant to keep upright all on his own. "That means Rei, Ami, and Makoto were all..." he trailed off, further panic setting in. He glanced up, blue eyes narrowed with intent. "What about Minako?"

Motoki shook his head, shrugging his shoulders as if he was at a loss. "That's where the story gets weird. Turns out my hunch about walking her home was right. We hadn't been out ten minutes when this strange woman showed up out of nowhere and threatened her. I wasn't about to let her get kidnapped too, so I--"

"Did something incredibly stupid that resulted in you getting a nasty head wound," Mamoru finished dryly, raking a hand through his dirty hair. He screwed up his face in disgust at making the same mistake twice in two hours. "Brilliant, Motoki."

Motoki obviously didn't appreciate the criticism. He scowled and leaned forward, his voice harsher than Mamoru was used to hearing from him. "And what was I supposed to do? Wave good-bye while she was dragged off to God-knows-where to be beaten or... worse?"

Mamoru didn't want to think about what Motoki exactly meant by worse, but he had a feeling that it wasn't limited to death. Mamoru swallowed uncomfortably and hung his head. "I know, Motoki. I didn't mean that, but... I don't exactly enjoy seeing you here. You know?"

"I have some idea," Motoki muttered.

Mamoru winced, the unreasonable guilt multiplying. "I meant--"

"Forget it," Motoki said easily, as if that were something he could easily do. It was at that moment that Mamoru realized the terrible irony of the situation. Motoki could embody forgiving and forgetting, yet Mamoru seemed to cling to the memories he would rather fade. And then the things he wanted so desperately to remember eluded him like diamond dust scattered on ordinary sand.

"Yeah," Mamoru whispered hoarsely. "Is Minako all right?"

Motoki hesitated again, casting his eyes over to the window as he considered the query. "That depends on your definition of all right."

Mamoru frowned. "What does that mean?"

"Well, for one thing, I didn't just wake her up at the arcade. The only reason I found her was because she was practically screaming thanks to some nightmare," Motoki began at length.

Mamoru nodded slowly. "Three of her friends kidnapped? I don't blame her for having nightmares."

"Then there was the thing where she basically said I was a dead man if I didn't stop asking her questions," Motoki continued dryly. "That, I found a bit odd."

Mamoru straightened, certain that this news signaled the end of the world or some other ridiculous catastrophe he never would have seen coming otherwise. "She threatened you? Minako?"

Motoki shook his head, cracking his knuckles. "No, she warned me. Which is just as weird, if not weirder." He leaned back against his pillows, the effort of telling this story obviously wearing him out. "I was just trying to figure out what was going on. I mean, three people I know are gone, and there was a possibility you were involved and... I couldn't just not ask."

Mamoru squeezed his eyes shut, the unreasonable guilt now completely out of control. Logically, he knew he couldn't have fixed this, but at the same time, he couldn't get over the fact that if he hadn't been lying in bed, he might have been able to do something. More importantly, if he hadn't been so sick, Motoki wouldn't have been so worried about him, and then maybe he wouldn't have been so determined to follow Minako home that night. Of course, that might also mean that Minako would have joined the other girls, but Mamoru had a very hard time caring about her in the face of Motoki's injuries.

"What did she say?" Mamoru asked, running a hand down his face.

When Motoki didn't respond immediately, Mamoru wondered if he had fallen asleep. It wouldn't have been the first time it had happened, head wound or not. But when he glanced up, he saw that Motoki's eyes were wide open, perhaps wider than Mamoru could ever remember seeing them.

"She said she wasn't going to let me die," Motoki said softly, the shake in his voice unmistakable and making Mamoru feel sick. "And that's when I knew she wasn't exaggerating. I needed to back off or something bad was going to happen."

Mamoru exhaled sharply, lacing his fingers at the back of his neck. He shut his eyes so that he could think without being seized by his emotion. He needed to consider things logically and without distraction. He was an intellectual creature, and he was not going to let the uncomfortable feelings in his chest and stomach cripple him.

He couldn't believe it. Three of Usagi's friends had been kidnapped, and Minako had nearly joined them. On top of that, Minako, who before that morning, Mamoru would have thought didn't actually have a serious thought in her head, had said all of that. It didn't make sense; none of this was making sense.

However, one thing was for certain. He didn't know what was going on, but it seemed almost certain that Usagi was involved. He'd always regarded her as the epicenter to their strange clique, sensing that without Usagi, the whole group would implode. Whatever was going on, he felt positive that it had something to do with her. At the very least, she had to know what was going on. It would certainly explain her weird behavior in his room a few days before.

It really only left him with one option.

"You going to be all right?" Mamoru asked finally, letting his arms drop to his sides.

Motoki nodded, smiling a bit. He wasn't really cheerful, but he knew Mamoru well enough to knew that he had to fake it for a little while. "Like I said. Just here for observation, remember?" He paused. "If hitting doesn't work, resort to kicking. Keep those soccer muscles in shape."

Mamoru ignored Motoki's teasing and got to his feet. "All right. I'll try to stop by again later before they discharge you. Drive you home since your parents are out of town." He lifted his hand, considering whether or not he should rest it on his friend's shoulder. The gesture would have been easy enough for Motoki or Dr. Yakamura to make, but it was different for Mamoru. Familiarity in any form was.

Eventually, he simply waved feebly and turned around, walking out of the room. "See you later."

"Where are you going?" Motoki called after him.

Absurdly, Mamoru found himself smiling a bit when he voiced the answer. "I need to see a girl about a disaster."

-----

Like so many other mornings, Usagi spent the majority of that one in bed.

She knew her mother must think she was becoming clinically depressed, but Usagi didn't have the energy to tell her not to worry. She was too consumed with her own problems to circumvent anything, but the minute she was confronted with the accusation, she'd take the time to head them off. But for the time being, Usagi did not want to do anything but sit around and wallow.

Luna probably thought she was pathetic for doing that, but Usagi didn't care.

As if losing Mamoru weren't bad enough, it looked like she'd lost Minako too. Their fight the night before seemed to signal the end of their friendship for Usagi. Even when she'd tried to make things better, they both had only made it worse. They just couldn't get past their issues and try to keep going. The feud continued even when they didn't have any allies.

Usagi had no idea how Minako was doing it. Even though she'd basically been on her own except for Artemis, she seemed to be able to keep up appearances. When Usagi looked at her, it didn't seem like she was a girl on the verge of breaking. She was upset; Usagi knew that. But Minako seemed so together in spite of everything that was happening, an adjective that seemed odd considering how scattered and frantic Minako usually acted.

Yet the fact remained that Minako was far more equipped to handle being on her own, whereas Usagi knew she herself couldn't take it. Perhaps that was why Minako had refused to relent in the argument; she knew she could survive without Usagi.

Of course, that didn't explain why Usagi couldn't let go.

The pull towards Mamoru was so strong. She might not have been able to remember specific incidents from their former life, but she remembered how Endymion had made her feel. He made her complete, and he made her feel like she could face anything so long as he was there. He made her blissfully happy, like she was constantly intoxicated, and she wasn't willing to give that up before she'd had a chance to really experience it. She loved him, and she wasn't going to give him up.

She'd always thought that she'd sacrifice anything for his sake. She'd just never realized exactly what that meant.

Usagi began to curl in on herself for another good crying jag when she heard the phone ring. She sat up a bit, wondering if maybe it was Minako calling to patch things up. Her heart skipped a beat when her mother opened the door to her room, the receiver muffled against her blouse.

"Usagi, it's for you," Ikuko said softly.

"Who is it?" Usagi asked, trying not to sound too eager.

Ikuko shrugged and handed her the phone. "He didn't say."

Usagi felt her stomach do a gymnastics routine underneath her skin. It was a guy? What guy did she know that would actually give her a phone call? Umino and her didn't talk much one-on-one since he had started dating Naru, and it certainly wasn't going to be Seijuurou anymore. She knew who she wanted it to be, but it was dangerous to hope for that.

She took a deep breath and shooed her mother away, bringing the receiver up to her ear. She exhaled and said, "Hello?"

"Odango? Is that you?"

Her knees went a bit wobbly, and Usagi was immensely grateful for the wall behind her. It was now the only thing keeping her upright. "Mamoru! It is you. I was hoping..." she trailed off, deciding it was better not to go down that road just yet. "Sorry. I'm just babbling. What are you calling about?"

Mamoru cleared his throat, hesitating. "I wanted to talk to you about what happened last night with Minako."

Usagi's heart skipped a beat. "How do you know about that?"

He made some strange noises on the other end of the phone, like he was starting about three sentences at once and didn't know which one to actually use. Finally, he forced out, "Motoki's in the hospital."

Usagi covered her mouth in shock. Motoki. He'd been hurt, but Usagi had been so caught up in her own life that she'd barely given it a second thought. She felt horrible for just forgetting about it like that, the boy she called her big brother for fun. She should have been more considerate of him and found out what happened after she ran off.

Unfortunately, that would have meant talking to Minako, which presented a rather insurmountable problem.

Usagi exhaled, entwining her bangs between her fingers. "Is he all right?"

"Thankfully," Mamoru sighed, obviously upset. "Listen, Usagi. I don't know what's going on with you and the other girls, but I'm afraid that... that it has something to do with me."

Usagi's grip on the phone tightened so much that the plastic creaked between her fingers. "You do? Mamoru, have you--"

"I need to talk to you," Mamoru said hurriedly. "Not on the phone."

Usagi felt dizzy with the speed things were being thrown at her. But she knew she didn't have time to waste getting her footing, so she nodded, her mouth dry. "Where are you?"

After agreeing to meet at a certain spot in the park, Usagi rushed out into the hallway and hung up the phone, her hands shaking. He wanted to meet with her to talk about the fights. He thought that he was involved somehow. He was worried. It could only mean one thing.

Mamoru was remembering.

Usagi could hardly contain her excitement. The process was going a great deal slower than she would have liked, but she didn't care. It was starting at last. With her guidance, he'd realize everything soon enough, and then he would be her Mamoru again. More importantly, he would be Tuxedo Kamen again, and perhaps with his help, she and Minako would be able to do something to help the other girls.

Usagi jumped up and down and then rushed off, barely managing to keep her balance on the stairs. She had to hurry to meet with Mamoru. He wasn't going anywhere, and he would probably wait for any amount of time, but this was one meeting Usagi did not want to be late for.

-----

"So you still haven't been able to find out who Sailor Moon is in this time?" Rubeus asked through gritted teeth.

The holographic image of the Wiseman shook his head - or the hood of the cape where Rubeus assumed his head was at any rate. He'd contacted Wiseman directly after the troublesome Cooan incident, demanding that he and Saffir figure out the identity of Sailor Moon. He'd gotten impatient several minutes before and called on Wiseman, not necessarily expecting a name, but expecting at least some indication that there were promising leads. Wiseman couldn't even give him that much.

"I'm afraid not," he said, his voice rushing out of his mouth like a rattling hiss, rushing wind and creaking doors. Talking with Wiseman always left Rubeus feeling that cobwebs were gathering in his mouth. "For whatever reason, her name is proving to be more difficult to uncover than the others."

Rubeus paced the length of the main chamber, gesturing sharply. "But that doesn't make any sense! We know the identities of her four guardians. Finding Sailor Moon's shouldn't be that difficult with that information at our fingers."

"It is puzzling," the Wiseman admitted darkly. "Saffir and I have been employing all of our usual methods. Thus far, none of them have been fruitful."

“Well, why don’t you try methods that aren’t so common?” Rubeus snapped, turning on his heel.

He could feel Wiseman reacting to his statement. It was strange. No one had ever seen his face, and his eyes were about as expressive as a couple of light bulbs, but no one could ever claim to be unsure of what his mood was. Sometimes Rubeus thought it felt like a chill seeping into his chest. Other times it felt more like he was choking. Perhaps it depended on just how angry Wiseman became.

“You only just put forth this request last night, Rubeus,” the Wiseman reminded him, his voice low.

“I’m aware of that,” Rubeus said quickly.

Wiseman moved his hands gracefully around the sphere floating between his fingers. Strange, how the movement could suddenly turn sinister even though he never really stopped doing it. “Then perhaps you ought to be more understanding of our situation.”

If there had been anything around for Rubeus to throw, he would have pitched it at one of those damn mirrors. If he couldn't break any heads at the moment, shattering the glass would have felt immensely satisfying. "Why aren’t you and Saffir more understanding of our position? I can’t go into another battle without having any idea who she is. I want us to be able to take her off guard rather than have her swoop in and ruin pre-laid plans."

Rubeus cut himself off, realizing that he was dangerously close to whining. He was not the sort of man who complained in such a manner. However, he couldn't get over the fact that he wanted to break someone's bones over this ridiculous mystery. As usual, he found himself longing to take out his frustrations on their forced passengers. Spilling Jupiter's blood had felt good, like a release long in coming, but there was no way he could lay a hand on any of them after Cooan's breakdown the night before.

He curled his hand into a fist, wishing he could actually punish her for that stupidity as he would have liked. But she was too important in his plans for any of that, so he would have to sit on his hands and let her torture herself in the aftermath. It wasn't how he liked to handle things, but he knew that in this case,
it was all he could do.

"I understand your frustration, Rubeus," the Wiseman croaked, his sinister voice sounding strangely comforting. "But you must learn patience."

"Patience can be deadly," Rubeus said gravely.

The Wiseman made a noise of disgust, his fingers momentarily going rigid. "I can see that there's no getting through to you on this matter. However, I will give you one suggestion."

Rubeus looked over his shoulder, intrigued. "What's that?"

"You know the identity of Sailor Venus for certain," the Wiseman said with some caution, but not enough for it to be a question.

Rubeus narrowed his eyes, remembering the looks on the other Senshi's faces when he had said the name Aino Minako. If he had any doubts as to the identity of Sailor Venus, they had been erased with that gesture. And he was glad of it too. Cooan might have wanted hers and Sailor Moon's blood after what had been to Karaberas, but Rubeus had a very personal reason for wanting vengeance on the golden soldier.

His fingers curled into a fist at the thought of that particular incident. "Positive."

"Then have one of your… subordinates trail her," the Wiseman said with a chuckle. "She will lead you to Sailor Moon eventually."

Rubeus narrowed his eyes. "I'm not certain that will work, Wiseman. From what Karaberas said, the two aren't exactly on speaking terms."

Wiseman let out a loud bark, making Rubeus look up sharply. "Don't be a fool, Rubeus. Even if they do not get along, you of all people ought to be familiar with Venus's character. She will stay at her friend's side with or without her knowledge, especially when she is being threatened on a daily basis."

Rubeus raised an eyebrow, considering this. Yes, that did sound like something Venus or any of the other Senshi in her position would have done. "Perhaps I will take you up on that suggestion, Wiseman."

"See that you do," Wiseman finished as his form began to flicker out of existence. "Prince Demando is getting very impatient."

Rubeus turned around just in time to see the Wiseman make his exit. He frowned and clenched his jaw. He had a reputation for being ruthless. He knew that even the four Akayashi Sisters feared him on some level, and although Esmeraude took pleasure in taunting him, she knew better than to take it too far. But the only one in their entourage who had never shown even the slightest bit of worry in his eyes was the prince. Rubeus knew why.

He shook his head sharply. He was not going to be caught unawares. He was going to defeat Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus no matter what it took.

"Beruche!" Rubeus barked. "Get down here." He paused, a cruel smile spreading across his lips. "You're going hunting."

-----

Petz narrowed her eyes at Rubeus's words and let out a quiet snarl. She had no interest in watching the ensuing scene, so she quickly turned on her heel and stalked off, taking care that her heels didn't send echoes all around the chamber.

It wasn't fair. Rubeus and Beruche never saw eye to eye on matters; she was just too smart to verbally challenge him and risk her neck. But Rubeus knew Beruche had a lower opinion of him than the other sisters. He also knew that she wasn't nearly as skilled or as ruthless as the others, and especially Petz.

But he'd still selected her.

Petz knew why. Karaberas might have been the one to receive the reprimand, but Petz still could not be forgiven for not being able to take Jupiter in the first place. She should not have given Karaberas time to intervene, and she should have done something more to prove herself in the interim. Rubeus wasn't going to give her the chance. She was going to have to take it herself.

Petz lashed out and pummeled the side of her fist into a wall, feeling a tiny amount of satisfaction at the way it shuddered beneath her strength. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs to capacity until it ached pleasantly. Then she exhaled sharply, nostrils flaring like the bull about to charge.

She couldn't let this go by. Rubeus hadn't called her out specifically to punish her. She wouldn't be surprised if he knew that she'd been watching Wiseman and him commiserate in the shadows. They were all familiar with how things worked on Nemesis. No one was given any real chances; opportunities had to be seized. Birth and luck might have played a hand in why King Endymion and his heavenly consort ascended the throne, but there were no such privileges in their world. Position was not given, but it wasn't earned or won either. It was taken with snatching fingers and bloody consciences. And it was never kept idly.

Petz narrowed her eyes, her fingers twitching inside her leather gloves. Actually, that wasn't entirely true. There was one person who had been given his position and who relied on other people to keep it. A short time ago, she'd cared for that person, perhaps more so than she was allowed. But even if it had only been a few weeks, it felt like ages with all that had changed between them. Now she couldn't stand to think or hear his name, and so much as mentioning him left her consumed by her own bitterness and choking on her pain.

She shook her head harshly. Now wasn't the time to think of him; there was never a time to think of him. Not anymore.

Although, perhaps he was partially to blame for her downfall. It was possible that she had been too distracted to maintain her position, although clearly, she had gotten far too lax as the eldest sister and leader of the Akayashi Sisters. She had always assumed that she would be the favored by Rubeus and feared by the others. But the last scene had demonstrated that Rubeus no longer trusted her to fulfill his larger plans, and her sisters had grown increasingly difficult to control.

Of course, she'd never been able to make Karaberas listen. Knowing that should have made Petz watch her closely, but she'd let her temper and her resentment blind her to her younger sister's plots. She'd been outdone, and not even the satisfaction of seeing the girl near death had satisfied her.

The only way Petz was going to be satisfied was with snatching fingers and a bloody conscience. She'd claw her way back to the top and knock any obstacles that presented themselves to the ground.

Including Beruche.

-----

Mamoru was not like Motoki; he wasn't genetically predisposed to worrying. He was not the type to concern himself with other people's well-being, certain that people were more than capable of taking care of themselves. However, he had been waiting at the designated spot for over fifteen minutes, and even though he knew that Usagi was never on time for anything, he found he was starting to get worried. After all, Usagi wasn't the sort of person who could take care of herself. People always took care of her, whether it was Motoki or one of the girls or her parents. There was always someone watching out for her. He had even taken up that cause at Natsumi and Seijuurou's apartment, and he was starting to berate himself for ever laying it down.

He was just about to go back to the payphone and find Usagi's home address along with her number when she finally rounded the corner. He watched her face brighten, something that he found filled him with relief more easily than it probably should have. She ran forward to meet him, stopping just a few feet away from him, her toes pointing straight to his own.

"Hi," she said breathlessly, her cheeks flushed and eyes bright.

"Hey," Mamoru said, sparing her a reassuring smile. "How are you doing?"

Usagi's smile wavered, but she did her best not to lose it entirely. He was struck by the fact that she and Motoki really did have a lot in common. They were both keeping up appearances for his sake, when they were the ones allowed to show that they were falling apart. "Not so great, but I think things might be taking a turn for the better soon." He noticed the flush in her cheeks seemed to darken just then, but he didn't have the time or patience to analyze it. "What about you? You're out of the hospital pretty fast."

Mamoru laughed awkwardly. "Yeah. The doctors don't know what to make of it."

Usagi shrugged, chewing on her bottom lip. "Guess you're just a fast healer."

"That's what I said," Mamoru said, happy that he didn't have to insist upon that twenty times for her benefit. The tiny amount of joy quickly faded, however, when he remembered why they were there. He looked down into her eyes and marveled at how completely guileless she seemed. It was hard for him to believe that she could really know anything about what was going on. Then again, he'd thought the same thing about Minako, although admittedly he didn't know her that well. And after hearing Motoki's story and giving the whole scenario about three seconds of thought, he couldn't ignore the possibility - no, the certainty - that Usagi was involved and that she knew what was going on.

He couldn't, but part of him wanted to.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Usagi asked, wringing her fingers nervously.

Mamoru nodded and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I need to talk to you about what’s been happening with Rei and the others.”

“Why?" she asked a bit too loudly. "Do you know something?”

Mamoru blinked. “No, of course not. Why would I--" He paused, softening when he saw her start to wince. He held up his hands, a gesture of understanding. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it like that.”

Usagi shook her head, quickly recovering. “No, it’s fine. It was stupid of me to ask anyway.” She fidgeted for a minute, possibly waiting for him to continue. Just when he was about to, she exhaled and looked up at his face intently. “Can I ask you something before we get into that?”

“Sure,” Mamoru answered, almost happy for the temporary reprieve.

Usagi nodded, licking her lips and shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Have you been having any... weird dreams recently?"

Anything Mamoru had been about to say went out the window. He gaped at her openly and took a step forward, hoping that his lungs stopped constricting and that his blood slowed. "How do you know about that?"

Usagi leaned back slightly, looking nervous. "I was just wondering."

"No, you weren't," Mamoru said quickly. Part of him knew he shouldn’t be so rough with her, but he couldn’t help it. Motoki was in the hospital, and for all he knew, he himself was in danger. He didn’t have time to think of her fragility. "You had no reason to bring that up. So you had to have known that I was seeing things before you asked me that. I want to know how you know about that... dream, vision, or whatever it was."

Usagi swallowed, looking as though she deeply regretted bringing it up. "I don't know anything like that, Mamoru. I just assumed that if you were remembering stuff and that you'd be--"

"Remembering?" Mamoru interrupted. "Remembering what?"

Usagi stared at him for a moment, and then he watched as her face slowly fell as if was being pulled down by invisible fingers. It only stopped when it reached her shoulders, which drooped under the weight of her obvious disappointment. "Then you haven't been getting any of your memories back?"

Mamoru froze, completely blown away. How did she know anything about his amnesia? Motoki was the only person outside of the doctors at the hospital and the people at the orphanage who knew about that. The only way she could have found out was to ask Motoki, which was ridiculous because he would never throw out details about Mamoru’s personal life like that, or investigate him on her own.

"This doesn't have anything to do with my memory," he said brusquely.

Usagi looked positively devastated by that news. “Oh,” she whispered.

He almost asked if she was all right, but now he was annoyed with her. "I came to talk to you about what Minako said to Motoki."

Usagi flinched as if he'd just poked a slowly healing bruise. "Minako and I haven't really been..."

She was having a hard time coming up with exactly what she wanted to say, and Mamoru wasn't willing to let her take the time to come up with the answer. "When he tried to ask her about what was happening with you and the others, she told him that he was in danger."

Usagi paled. "Oh, no," she whispered. "Oh, Minako, why did you--"

"She said that he could die!" Mamoru said, his voice rising. "And I want to know what she meant by that."

Usagi shook her head, covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm sorry, Mamoru. Minako shouldn't have said it like that, but I think... She was only trying to keep him safe."

"Safe from what?" Mamoru asked, gesturing wildly. "Usagi, what the hell is going on? Everything has just… gone to shit. Three of your friends are missing. Minako and Motoki were attacked last night. And frankly, you don’t seem to be acting as shocked as I think someone would be in this situation if they didn’t have some idea as to who was behind it all." He paused, taking another step forward. "Something is happening with you girls, and I have to know... Does it have anything to do with what happened at Natsumi and Seijuurou's apartment?"

Usagi blinked and straightened for a moment. She gaped at him for a minute, and Mamoru was certain at that moment that he had been completely off. "This isn't because of what happened that day, Mamoru. You might not believe me, but I'm really not sure why this is happening." Her voice cracked, and she closed her eyes to try to stop the tears from flowing. It wasn't working that well. "I just know that my friends and I are being targeted by these Black Moon people, and I--"

"Black Moon?" Mamoru interrupted, staunchly ignoring her tears. "What is that? Some sort of gang?"

Usagi snorted, swiping at her nose with her sleeve. "Something like that I think." She shook her head. "Look, that doesn't matter. Motoki doesn't have to worry about getting hurt anymore. What happened with Minako... No one’s going to go after him. He isn't involved."

Mamoru looked at her for a few moments, the question poised in his throat. He was just having trouble forcing it out into the open for he feared he already knew the answer. Finally, he swallowed hard and forced his mouth to speak, although his voice came out in nothing more than a whisper. "Am I involved?"

Usagi looked grave when she answered, although to her credit, she didn't allow a long pause to linger between them. "I'm not sure." She gave him a watery smile, swallowing nervously. "You used to be."

"Why do you keep saying things like that?" Mamoru demanded in a hiss. "You say I forgot something; you say I used to do something. What? What is so important that you keep--"

"You loved me once," Usagi interrupted loudly, meeting his gaze directly. Her eyes felt like a wall he’d crashed into, bringing all of his words and his hopes that he was wrong to a halt, scattering them across the pavement. She obviously noticed his reaction, but she kept going, silently insisting that he needed to hear all of this. "You loved me, and that used to be important. People died for it; people killed for it. Our friends got hurt, and we lost our homes... But we got a second chance, and we tried to make it right again. We fought to make it right again." She paused, exhaling. "That's what you've forgotten."

Mamoru stared at her, completely at a loss. On any other day, he probably would have assumed that she'd finally lost it, but knowing all that he did about the situation with the other girls along with this Black Moon business, he couldn't help but think that she was serious about this. More importantly, a part of him thought she might have been right.

“You don’t believe me,” she said sadly, her gaze drifting to the ground. “I knew you wouldn’t.”

“It’s not the sort of thing that’s easy to believe,” he countered quietly. "How could I have forgotten something like that?"

She reached forward and grabbed his hand, yet another gesture that made him feel extremely uncomfortable. She took a deep breath, and he found himself taking it with her, steeling himself for whatever she was about to tell him. "Because you died, Mamoru."

He just looked at her, feeling utterly numb. How could he hear anything like that and not feel voided? Then again, part of him thought he was more likely to laugh at her and tell her she was dreaming things. Yes, that was what he would usually do.

But something about this just didn’t strike him as funny.

"We all did," Usagi continued. "But you... You sacrificed yourself for me, and I made a wish, so we all got to come back again. A third chance, I guess." She looked down, her face looking like a lost child's. "But we all forgot it again. Then things got bad, and I had to remember. Then all the girls remembered, and we..." She grabbed his other hand and held on so tightly that it hurt. "I tried to make you remember, Mamoru. I really did. So many times and so many ways, but nothing I did worked. And then when you protected me during up there at the apartment, I thought for sure that you were going to remember and that we could be together again."

"But I didn't," Mamoru said, marveling at how he almost found himself buying into what she was saying.

"No," Usagi murmured. "And I wanted so badly to keep trying, but... Rei, Ami, and Makoto were taken, and Minako said all of these horrible things about you, and I... I just haven't known what to do or who to go to. Even Luna's not speaking to me anymore!"

Mamoru somehow resisted the urge to point out that her cat probably wasn't speaking to her at all in the first place. "If what you say is true, then why don't I remember along with the rest of you?"

"Nobody knows," Usagi confessed. "Ami was researching it for awhile, but so many other things happened. And then she got kidnapped, so..." She tugged his arms anxiously. "But we'll be able to figure it out! We'll get Ami and the others back here, and then she'll find out what went wrong and we can fix it." She smiled at him so desperately that his chest ached in sympathy. "But it'll be all right now because even if you don't remember exactly, you know, and that makes it better. Doesn't it?"

Mamoru shook his head, trying desperately to make sense of all this information in his head. "Usagi, I don't--"

"You won't leave again, will you, Mamoru?" Usagi asked quietly. "I know you probably want to. This is scary, and just because you stayed to help me before doesn't mean that you will now. But I really need you here because you're the only one left. Minako hates me and Artemis will stay with her and Luna's angry and the others... I just hate being alone so much, and I don't think I could take it if you went away after all of this."

Mamoru looked down at her, his mind blank. "Why would it matter so much to you?"

Usagi laughed pathetically, two tears making their way down her cheeks. She looked up at the sky, a strange smile crossing her face. He was so struck by the oddness of her expression that he almost missed what she had to say. Almost.

"Because I love you, idiot."

-----

Minako let out a long sigh when she heard Usagi finally get to the point. She had known it was coming, and part of her had been tempted to burst out and stop it. Instead she had stayed hidden behind the tree, her fingers scraping against the bark from the effort it took to hold her there.

She wished that she could say that she knew for certain what would happen now. Being sure of Mamoru's impending mistakes would have made all of this much easier. Yet, as much as she played the pessimist and expected nothing but heartache from this scenario, a part of her thought there might have been a chance for them. If Mamoru was a good man, then one look at Usagi's face, so open and easily breakable should have been enough to hold him there. Maybe this was what he needed to jog his memory: a vague summary of events. Maybe now it would all come flooding back, and maybe he would remember loving her. It might even lead to them falling in love again.

But there was a great deal of uncertainty, and Minako knew that if Usagi lost Mamoru again, she might not be able to hold on to herself. That was why she spoke out against it. That's why she prepared her for the worst.

Minako suddenly found herself wishing Rei was with her. This was normally the sort of thing she did, and the Senshi of Fire was much better at it.

She shook her head and peeked around the trunk once more to get a look at the scene. Mamoru still hadn't said anything. For once, Minako couldn't blame him. With all that had been thrown at him, she would have been annoyed if he were readily prepared with an answer. But the expression he wore now, dejected and lost and clearly wanting nothing more than to collapse on the ground until the world stopped moving, was almost enough to move her. She would have pitied him if Usagi hadn't been more important.

"Well, well, who are we spying on today... little Venus?"

Minako's eyes widened in panic. Without bothering to turn around, she dove forward, rolling once she hit the ground. It was murder on her back and the rest of her body, which hadn’t had nearly enough time to recover from Karaberas’s assault, but she did her best not to think about it. There wasn't time for her to be injured. She winced only when she heard an attack hit the tree, sending a loud crack and a cold wind into the air.

"Minako?" Usagi asked in shock. After a moment, her cheeks colored. "Have you been standing there the whole time?"

She quickly scrambled to her feet and placed herself in front of Mamoru and Usagi. "Yeah, would you mind refocusing for a minute? We have bigger problems."

Minako watched as one of their enemies stepped out from behind the tree. She had never seen her before, which meant that it had to be the woman who had kidnapped Ami at the school or someone they hadn’t encountered before. Minako found herself desperately hoping it was the former and not the latter. Minako glanced over at the tree, raising both of her eyebrows when she saw that it had been frozen solid.

Definitely the one who had taken Ami.

"You know, eavesdropping isn't very polite," the enemy said, her voice high and airy.

Minako raised an eyebrow and adjusted her stance just in case she tried to launch another offensive maneuver. "Well, neither is trying to blast my head off."

She shrugged, clasping her hands behind her back. "Duty calls I'm afraid." She stepped forward, and Minako very deliberately held her ground. "But why don't you introduce me to your little friends? I'm sure I'd love to get to know them."

Minako heard Mamoru make a strangled noise in his throat. He wasn't prepared for this; no one could expect him to be. That meant that Minako needed to do everything within her power to make sure he got out of this unscathed. She might have been furious with him for what he was doing to Usagi, but that didn't mean that she was going to let him get trounced by some whacked-out ice queen. "You don't need to know them. They aren't involved."

"He isn't involved," Usagi corrected, much to Minako's vexation. She stepped up beside her and hissed, "What are you doing? You can't take her on by yourself."

Minako clenched her jaw, wishing that there were some way to make other people understand her intentions when she couldn't voice them herself. "I was trying to get you two out of here together. There's no telling who else she has positioned around here, and I don't want to send him out unguarded."

The blue girl smiled like a biting wind. "Her name is Beruche for future reference."

"Wonderful," Minako chirped. "Still doesn't inspire confidence."

"I'm sorry," Mamoru muttered from behind them. "Hate to interrupt, but would someone mind telling me what the hell is going--"

Minako glanced over her shoulder. This was probably a situation that demanded care and tact, but if Mamoru had even an inkling of his memories lurking around his brain, Minako had a feeling that he was going to feel compelled to stick around. She couldn’t afford to be worrying about him, Usagi, and herself during the fight that was certain to ensue. So she didn’t feel the least bit guilty when she said, "If you want to get out alive, you better run for your life."

Usagi didn’t seem too pleased with her bluntness. “Minako!”

“It’s true, and you know it,” Minako said quickly.

Usagi probably didn’t agree with her, but she didn’t protest either.

Mamoru's face turned a sickening shade of white, yet Minako could tell that as much as he wanted to run, he wanted to stay. She had a feeling it was old instincts holding him there, something that gave her hope that he would eventually remember, but now was not the time for hope. He needed to remember for Usagi’s sake, but he also needed to survive for it.

He shook his head, obviously ready to proclaim whatever he had to in order to stay. "But I--"

"This isn't the time to be heroic," Minako told him without preamble. "This is the time to turn around and run because you are not ready for this."

Mamoru didn't seem convinced, although he mostly just looked terribly confused. Minako felt like telling him that one heroic act didn't automatically make him ready to be a hero. He shook his head. "I can't just leave you here."

Minako could tell by the tone in his voice that he was really only talking to one of them. It left her feeling bitter when she really had no cause to expect anything.

Usagi moved beside her, signaling to Minako that her eyes were no longer on Beruche. Minako turned back around and kept an eye on their opponent while Usagi continued to work on the one person who could not stay there. "Mamoru, please. I want to keep you safe, but I can’t do that if you stay here. Just go. We’ll be all right. I promise.”

Beruche subtly covered her hand with her mouth as if to stifle a yawn, but Minako wasn't watching that hand. She was watching the one rising up, fingers stiff and poised.

"Scatter!" Minako shouted, diving to the right. She glanced over her shoulder to see Mamoru drag Usagi in the other direction just as Beruche's attack hit the spot they had been standing at.

"Sorry!" Beruche called out cheerfully. "I was just getting so bored."

Minako brushed the dirt away from her knees and got to her feet as quickly as she could. She was fairly certain the cut on her face had opened up again, but at least it wasn't the larger ones on her back or her thigh. She took a deep breath and pulled her henshin stick from her pocket. "Let me entertain you."

-----

Usagi flinched when she and Mamoru hit the dirt, hissing as her skin was scraped. She quickly shook it off and got to her feet, reaching for her brooch.

Mamoru's hand grasped her own. It was ridiculous for her to be so happy about the gesture at that particular moment, but she couldn’t help it. "Usagi!" he said sharply.

She turned to look at him, eyes soft. "Thank you, Mamoru," she began sincerely. "But now you have to go."

He looked over at Minako and then at their enemy, Beruche, his lips pursed so tightly that they almost disappeared. He closed his eyes and said, "I feel like I can't... like I should be able to do something to help you."

Usagi felt as though her heart were going to take wing and fly away from her. Part of her wanted to throw her arms around him right then and there and tell him so much more than what she had said before, but she knew that wasn't an option. Much as she hated it, there was a battle to be won. She smiled at him and said, "We'll talk after this, okay? But I don't want you to get hurt. So please, please run."

She pulled away from him reluctantly and faced Beruche, who seemed rather amused by whatever Minako had just said to her. "I won't forgive you for taking our friends and for attacking an innocent civilian! If you want to fight us, fight us. But leave him out of it."

Beruche considered this for a moment, but nodded. "I can agree to those terms."

Usagi was surprised and relieved it had actually worked. She looked over at Minako with a wide smile on her face, but it faltered when she saw the other blonde's look. She wasn't nearly as trusting as Usagi was in this matter.

She sighed, bowing her head. "Let's go."

She heard Minako's feet move in the dirt, no doubt planting herself for the coming battle. "Venus Star Power..."

Usagi exhaled and grasped her brooch in her right hand. She closed her eyes and whispered, "I didn't want you to find out like this." She gave herself one more second to collect herself from thrusting the jeweled brooch into the air, eyes wide open. "Moon Crystal Power..."

"MAKE-UP!"

-----

Even though he probably should have figured it out earlier, Mamoru finally realized what the hell Usagi had been talking about.

Mamoru’s jaw dropped open as both girls were suddenly swallowed by lights that threatened to blind him. His vision was filled with feathers and ribbons entwined with stars, and he watched as they both danced inside the light. It didn't take him long to recognize the short skirts and the sailor collars, as well as the tiaras adorning their brows.

They were Sailor Senshi. Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus. That was why they had been targeted by this Beruche person and whoever else was on her side. It really did have nothing to do with the tree disaster. The incident was related only in the sense that the girls had been there because they were Sailor Senshi, and that had to mean that Rei, Ami, and Makoto were soldiers as well.

Everything made so much sense that Mamoru wondered how he and Motoki could ever have joked about it.

The light subsided, and Mamoru was faced with the two remaining defenders of Tokyo. They suddenly seemed much older and far more capable than he ever would have given them credit for. He looked at them for what felt like a long time, trying to remember a time when he had regarded them with less awe and seen them as allies. Predictably, nothing concrete came forth.

He just had a feeling that he wasn't supposed to be sitting there cowering in fear.

"So you are Sailor Moon," Beruche said, a smile in her voice. "I was hoping that I was right about that."

"For love and justice," Sailor Moon quipped, though surprisingly she didn't launch into the whole speech.

Beruche folded her arms across her chest, raising an eyebrow. "What is it exactly you hope to accomplish here, Sailor Senshi? You're not good enough to kill me, and you're too young to have the stomachs for torturing any information out of me." Her eyes darkened murderously. "That starts later."

Mamoru's eyes narrowed in confusion. He shifted focus to Venus and Sailor Moon, wondering if they knew what she was talking about. They didn't seem quite as surprised as he did, but it was still something they weren't expecting to hear.

"We'll settle for sending you on your way," Venus said smoothly. "We'll give you an out now, Beruche. If you don't want to end up like Karaberas, leave now."

Beruche sniffed, flipping her braid over her shoulder. "I'm insulted you'd compare me to that little wench. I'll have you know that she and I have nothing in common now, and we certainly won’t walk away from fighting with you in the same way." She paused, tilting her head to the side. "I'll be the one causing damage today."

Without any more warning, Beruche swung her torso around, thrusting both of her arms out. Mamoru watched as water poured out from her palms. It was strange, how the move seemed menacing and harmless at the same time.

Sailor Moon and Venus weren't fooled, however. They both leapt up to avoid the attack, and Venus added in a flip for good measure. Mamoru took great comfort in the display. Underneath the steel mask, Venus was still Aino Minako and Sailor Moon was still Tsukino Usagi.

He wished they didn't have to be both.

Venus recovered first from the assault and quickly launched a counterattack. "Crescent Beam!"

Beruche quickly dodged to avoid the attack, but Mamoru saw that it barely grazed her left shoulder. She wasn't the least bit happy about that development and surged forward, shifting the battle into physical combat rather than magical assaults.

Mamoru watched with growing dread as Venus and Sailor Moon blocked and countered with a kind of ease he found disheartening. All this time, he had thought these girls were just that: girls. It made him reconsider everything he had every thought about them, especially Usagi. And Usagi’s news had to make him think about all of their interactions up to this point.

He had gone out of his way to tease her about her grades and her hair and just about everything else he could latch on to. He had never really examined why he had gone to that much trouble before. He'd thought it was just because her reactions made him laugh because they were so ridiculous. He remembered that Usagi seemed to take the jabs seriously, even going so far as to profess everlasting hatred for him.

But now Usagi was telling him that they used to be in love?

When had that happened? He couldn't recall any holes in his life other than everything before waking up in that damn hospital when he was six-years-old. But she had said it with such conviction and with her bright blue eyes practically melting with his own. She couldn't have been lying. He wondered if Tsukino Usagi was capable of lying.

He looked up in time to see Sailor Moon expertly spin out of the way of one of Beruche's punches, those same eyes narrowed with a kind of determination he had never seen before. No, Usagi could definitely lie; she had to with this kind of life. But he knew for certain that she hadn't been lying about that.

So was she mistaken? It didn't seem possible that he was the same person she described in her memories. She could have gotten him mixed up with someone else. Sure, he'd protected her back with Ail and Ann, and maybe that had gotten her confused.

Mamoru sighed, holding his head in his hands. Eventually, this fight was going to end, and he was going to have to actually deal with this. He already knew he wasn't going to enjoy it. Usagi would want some sort of direct answer to what she had said, and he had no idea how Minako was going to react. Before that morning, he would have assumed she'd bounce around and irritatingly try to drag a similar confession out of him. But after receiving such a pointed, stony look from her earlier, he couldn't count on anything.

And that's when he realized he couldn't count on them being able to finish up their talk either. There was no guarantee that Venus and Sailor Moon were going to win the battle. More importantly, there was no guarantee that they would all make it out alive.

'If you want to get out alive, you better run for your life.'

Mamoru shivered and turned his attention back to the battle, his fists shaking at his sides. He could deal with his personal issues later. This was more important.

It was pretty clear that all three of the women were getting pretty tired of this kind of hand-to-hand combat. Sailor Moon especially didn't seem the best equipped to deal with it. She barely managed to lean back in order to avoid a hard punch to the jaw. However, Mamoru felt a strange amount of pride well up in his chest when she dropped to her knees and swept her leg out, trying to kick Beruche's legs out from underneath her.

Unfortunately, Beruche managed to clear the attack and refocused her efforts on Venus. She bent her arm and sent an elbow directly for the face. Venus, whose attention was split between Beruche and Sailor Moon, didn't have enough time to duck. It caught her in the cheek, smearing the blood from the already open wound on her skin.

Mamoru held his breath, wondering if this would prove to be a turning point for the worse. But then he saw Sailor Moon's eyes flash. She picked up a rock from the ground and slammed it as hard as she could into the side of Beruche's head. She shrieked and staggered backwards, holding the gaping wound.

He was starting to feel some sense of relief. The two of them were doing well. They had Beruche outnumbered, and he was daring to hope that they had her outclassed. He felt certain that they were going to send her packing any minute now.

Venus ducked low to dodge yet another punch and started to swing her leg up to catch Beruche square in the face. Mamoru found himself smiling, anticipating how satisfying it would be to watch her go reeling back. Perhaps after that it would only be a few more minutes and then both of the girls would be safe. Then they could tell him who they thought he was and what he was supposed to do against this kind of enemy.

He gasped when he saw Beruche catch Venus's ankle in her hand. Venus seemed rather surprised as well. She cried out as her leg was pushed down. She spun and staggered about, clearly thrown off balance. Beruche quickly took advantage of the opening and launched a powerful kick to her midsection. Venus screamed in pain and flew back. Mamoru winced as her back hit the tree with a sickening sound, and he didn't miss the way her face twisted in pain there.

"Venus!" Sailor Moon cried out, running forward. She dug her heels in to slow down when she saw Beruche spin back around, her arm flung out. Sailor Moon dodged so that she had moved closer to where Mamoru was standing. She barely missed being caught up in Beruche's attack.

Mamoru felt sick as he watched the ground freeze where Sailor Moon had been standing. What were they supposed to do if one of them actually got hit by that? More importantly, what was he supposed to do?

"You really should have listened to them, you know," Beruche said loudly. It took Mamoru a moment to realize she was talking to him.

He straightened, blinking. "What?"

Beruche smiled, and the disturbing part about it was that her face actually looked pleasant. "You should have run."

Mamoru watched in shock as Beruche went against her word and launched her attack right for him. It felt so surreal. When Usagi had been in danger, Mamoru had acted entirely on instinct, moving her out of the way as quickly as possible. But now that he had seen the damage Beruche could inflict and now that he was on his own, he couldn't move. It was like he was frozen in place before the ice ever got there.

"Mamoru!"

He looked up just in time to see Sailor Moon sprinting towards him, running all out to get to him. He tried to tell her to stop, but it was too late. Her smaller body crashed into his chest like a blonde wrecking ball, knocking him to the ground. He watched as her face twisted in pain, and looked up to see the edges of Beruche's power wash across her back. Her skin felt cold, and if he moved his fingers just a bit, he could feel where it had frozen solid. They spun in the air so that she was going to take the brunt of the landing. He tried to alter their position, but they didn't have enough momentum to stay in the air any longer. They hit hard, and he saw tiny shards of ice break off her skin, exposing the frozen flesh and hair. Her skin looked red and raw now, and he knew that the attack had probably done more than just give her frostbite.

"Sailor Moon!" he heard Venus cry out. He thought about turning to see her, but the noises that followed indicated that Beruche wasn't going to let her through. For the moment, he was on his own.

"Usagi," he hissed, moving off her and pulling her a bit more upright. He set about to rubbing some of the affected skin, swallowing when he hit the damper portions of her. He deliberately did not look to see if it was blood or water. "You shouldn't have done that."

She shook her head, teeth shattering and eyes wide with agony. And yet somehow she managed to look... serene.

"I know I did the right thing," she whispered. "Besides, I owed you."

He had no idea if she was referring to back with Ail and Ann, him pushing her out of the way a few moments before, or some other incident he could not longer remember. He found his hands shaking at the thought that he could so capriciously throw his life around, and he could barely remember the looks on Minako's and Usagi's faces when they were attacked without feeling sick.

He closed his eyes and hissed, "Usagi, I don't think I can--"

"Watch it!" Sailor Moon cried out, her palms pushing against his chest.

Mamoru turned as far as his neck would allow just in time to see a dark boot heading straight for his face. He whipped back around and yelled as the toe made contact with his neck, pushing him away from Sailor Moon. He hit the ground hard, and his head practically exploded from the pain. He tried to push himself upright, but he was having a fairly hard time of it.

It became much easier when he heard her scream.

He whipped around and watched as another woman with the same black tattoo on her forehead swept down and grabbed Sailor Moon around the waist, pinning her arms at her sides. The blonde thrashed for a minute, but it quickly became clear that the last assault had weakened her to the point where it wasn't going to do her much good.

"Sailor Moon!" Venus shrieked, rushing forward. She pointed a finger at the new arrival's head. "Let her go, now!"

She smiled, her dark lips spreading wide to reveal startlingly white teeth. Mamoru didn't know if it was the kick to the head or not, but he could have sworn they looked sharper than they were meant to be. "Lower that finger, Venus, unless you want me to use your friend for a human shield."

Venus's cheeks colored, but she did not lower her hand.

"Petz!" Beruche shouted from her position. She stalked forward and actually stood at Venus's side. For a moment, the pair almost looked united. "What are you doing here? I was given this assignment!"

Petz chuckled darkly, her grip tightening on Sailor Moon as she continued to squirm. "Actually, right after he sent you off to create this little distraction, he told me what his real objective was." She paused, laughing aloud. "Did you honestly think Rubeus thought you'd be able to bring both of them down by yourself."

Beruche clenched her hands into fists and stomped her foot. "How dare you go behind my back like this!"

Petz rolled her eyes. "Relax. It's still your job to bring Goldilocks back to base. We don't think you're completely useless." Petz tossed her head. "I hope you can manage that much."

The three of them watched in various degrees of horror and rage as Petz vaulted upwards, taking Sailor Moon with her.

"Odango!" Mamoru shouted, forgetting to use any of the names she would have liked to be called in his panic.

"Sailor Moon!" Venus shrieked, running forward to Mamoru's side even though there was nothing either of them could do.

She opened her mouth to call back to them, but it was too late. A second later, both Petz and Sailor Moon vanished. When they disappeared, an impossible hush fell over the area. Even the birds and the nearby brook seemed to succumb to silence, mourning their loss or perhaps forewarning more hardships to come.

Mamoru didn't give it much consideration. He just kept looking up at the spot where Sailor Moon had once been, all of his own pain forgotten. He was too consumed with the look in her eyes as she had been taken. It was burning its way into Mamoru's memories, and he knew that no amount of trauma would ever make him forget it.

Nor would it let it him forget that he had failed.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Some of you may have noticed that along with upping the rating (I decided torture should automatically make something rated R/M), but the chapter count just jumped from twenty-four to twenty-five. That is because this chapter was intended to be a lot longer, but I wound up splitting it in half during the final planning stages. I knew when I was going to get to the part where Usagi gets snatched that it was going to feel like an ending and that continuing on would feel weird and wrong. I considered just living with the wrongness, but I ultimately decided that the story was better as a whole if I broke here.

Not to mention the fact that I've left you with a hell of a cliff-hanger. XD I am the great evil.

A big thank you and a thousand and one chocolate Helioses go to Yumeko for editing this chapter and for letting me know what was wrong with the first draft. :D You are wonderful, and I do not know what I would do without you. 3

Stay tuned for the next chapter!

Coming Soon - Part Nine: Desperate Partners

 

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