"Hotaru-chan, what's wrong with you tonight?" ChibiUsa asked, staring her friend deep in her violet eyes. "You're acting just like Mamo-chan was earlier." The two were sitting on ChibiUsa's bed, in their pajamas. ChibiUsa was thrilled that she and Hotaru could finally have a sleepover again, but something about her friend was off.

     Hotaru tried to smile at the smaller girl, but her mouth sank into a frown again. "I'm sorry, ChibiUsa-chan," she replied. "I'll try to be more cheerful."

     ChibiUsa sighed and looked away. "Well...is there anything you want to share? You know you can tell me anything."

     "I don't know if this is something I should tell you." Or even could, she thought. How in the world could I tell her this?

     The pink-haired girl was visibly hurt. "Okay, I guess if it's too personal..." What is Hotaru hiding from me? Does she not like me anymore?

     "That's not it. It's just..." Hotaru bit her lip, her face mutating into a painful grimace.

     "Then what IS it? Please tell me, Hotaru-chan!" As ChibiUsa spoke, her body once again seemed to flicker--to fade out of existence, for a moment. She seemed oblivious to it.

     Hotaru's eyes grew wide. Did I just see what I think I saw? "No! This can't be happening!"

     "What can't be happening? Please, Hotaru-chan! I want to help you!"

     As she saw ChibiUsa fade in and out yet again, she could stand it no longer, and blurted it out. "CAN'T YOU SEE THAT YOU'RE DISAPPEARING?!"

     "What?" ChibiUsa sat back, shocked. Then slowly, fearfully, she looked down at her own body, and saw what had made Hotaru so distraught.

     "Oh no! Usagi and Mamo-chan might be in danger! We have to--"

     Hotaru pressed her fingers against ChibiUsa's lips, and realized with a shiver that those were disappearing too. "No. There's nothing wrong with them."

     "But--"

     Hotaru's hand against her friend's face, and her whole body, shook with anger and pain. "I said, they're fine."

     "Then, WHY?! Why is this happening to me?!"

     She held ChibiUsa, and started to cry. Her face was starting to sting from the constant floods of tears that had washed over it in the past several hours.

     "Hotaru-chan...you know, don't you?"

     "Yes." And Hotaru told her.

     After Hotaru was finished speaking, ChibiUsa remained silent for a long time. She wasn't quite sure what to say, or think.

     Her lips finally parted, and let out some quiet words. "So...Usagi and Seiya-san..."

     Hotaru's mind filled with rage at those words. "Yes. They are."

     So Usagi really loves him, ChibiUsa thought. I would have never imagined this.

     Before ChibiUsa could speak further, a change came over Hotaru's face. She seemed to decide, and stood up quickly, looking down at her friend.

     "Come on, ChibiUsa-chan. We're going."

     "What?"

     "I'm not going to let this happen! We're going to go to Usagi, and make her change her mind!"

     ChibiUsa stood up alongside her. "But, Hotaru-chan, I--"

     The rest of ChibiUsa's words were muffled by a shirt Hotaru threw at her. "Get dressed, we're going now!"

     She reluctantly started getting dressed. "Please listen to me! This isn't--"

     Hotaru's head poked through her turtleneck, and she smiled warmly. "Don't worry, ChibiUsa-chan. The other Senshi may not care, but I do." ChibiUsa gasped as Hotaru bowed to her. "I promise to you that I, Sailor Saturn, will protect your life with mine, Princess."

     ChibiUsa could no longer protest. She knelt down with Hotaru.

     "Okay, let's go, then."

~***~

     At Hikawa Shrine, Rei sat back in her bathtub and closed her eyes. Her concentration as of late had been terrible, and she was hoping a nice bath would quiet her mind. But before she could relish it, she heard the phone ring, and Yuuichirou yell, "REI-SAN! You have a phone call!"

     Great, she thought. Just when I thought I could relax. She knew Yuuichirou would shout her name ad nauseum unless she responded, so she threw a towel around herself and went to answer the phone.

     A red-faced Yuuichirou handed the receiver to Rei, and quickly scurried off, in search of work that would distract him from the sight of Rei's wet, towel-clad body.

     "Hello?"

     "Hi, Rei-chan. It's Minako."

     "I hope you know I had to get out of the bath for this."

     "Sorry...I just wanted to tell you something."

     Rei tapped her foot; she wasn't in the mood for Minako's gossip. "And? What is it?"

     "Usagi-chan called me. She's doing it tonight."

     Rei nearly dropped the receiver. "Is she?" she said, in a wavering voice.

     "Yeah...so...what are we going to do?"

     There was a pause on the other end. Minako toyed with the phone cord nervously, waiting for Rei's response.

     She finally spoke up. "Well, we're going to hang up, and then I'm going to go get back in the bath. Fine by you?"

     "Rei-chan, I know we already talked about this, but..."

     She tried to sound soothing. "Yeah, I know how you feel. But it's best if we just don't involve ourselves. Don't you think?"

     "...Yeah. You're right. I called Ami-chan and Mako-chan too, and they said the same thing."

     Rei smiled, despite herself. "Well then, since it's unanimous..."

     Minako sounded close to tears, on the other end. "I'm really sorry, Rei-chan. I guess I'm just feeling uneasy. I didn't mean to bother you."

     Minako heard a troubled sigh through the receiver. "It's no problem. I'm just trying not to think about it, myself."

     "Okay. Go take your bath, then. Maybe I'll do that, too."

     "Goodnight, Minako-chan. Try to get some sleep."

     "I will. 'Night, Rei-chan."

     Rei replaced the receiver in its cradle, and walked back to the bathroom. Good luck, Usagi.

~***~

     Michiru reached down to her thigh to smooth out a fold in her aqua dress, took one last look in the mirror, and turned around to face Haruka. "Well? How do I look?"

     An admiring Haruka grinned. "Elegantly beautiful, as always."

     Michiru sauntered up to her partner and ran a hand over her shoulder. "Not bad yourself, dearest."

     Haruka blushed, and Michiru giggled, for what seemed to Haruka like the twentieth time that day. Well, at least we're feeling normal again, she thought. The couple had spent the good part of the evening worrying about the heartbroken and angry Hotaru, and their own inability to get through to her; going out would certainly help get their minds off of that day's troubling events.

     Michiru poked her head out from behind the bedroom door and shouted down the hallway. "Setsuna! Are you dressed? We're going out!"

     No response. Michiru smirked and started to creep toward Setsuna's bedroom. "Meiou Setsuna, you are NOT going to be an antisocial hermit on my watch! Come on, let's--"

     Haruka entered the hallway with a sly smile on her face. "It's rare to hear you break off in mid-sentence like that. Did you catch her naked or something?" Intrigued by that thought, she walked closer, to get a peek at what had cut off Michiru like that.

     "Haruka...she's gone."

     "What? But we didn't hear her leave..."

     They entered the still, empty, dark bedroom. A breeze wafted through the open window, ruffling several neatly stacked pieces of paper, threatening to blow them away. Haruka caught them before they floated out of the room. At the top of the first page, Setsuna had written, "To my dearest friends...and family."

     Haruka quickly continued to read, her face twisting in confusion and sadness with each additional word. "Oh my God."

     Michiru snatched the letter away, and scanned its words herself. A delicate hand slowly rose to her mouth. "Oh, Setsuna..."

     Each one gave the other a long, sad, knowing look, and they slipped out of the room, closing the door behind them.

~***~

     Yaten sighed and pulled three plates out of the cupboard, setting them down on the counter. "We shouldn't have let him leave."

     "He can handle himself," Taiki replied. "I think." He grabbed one of the plates and handed another to Kakyuu.

     "Well, if he comes back with a black eye--"

     "We couldn't have kept him here if we wanted to," Kakyuu interjected. "Usagi-chan asked him to be there."

     Yaten nodded slightly, dishing a mass of noodles onto his plate. "You're right. She's had him wrapped around her finger for years now." He narrowed his eyes. "He'd do anything for her."

     "You sound jealous, Yaten," Taiki said, raising an eyebrow.

     He scowled. "Don't be stupid." Yaten's eyes darkened and he directed his glance at Kakyuu. "I just feel like something bad is going to happen."

     Taiki paused for a moment, a fork loaded with noodles inches from his mouth. "So things haven't worked themselves out yet?"

     "Well," Kakyuu said, putting a reassuring hand on Yaten's shoulder, "we'll see."

~***~

     Usagi and Mamoru ate in silence. Usagi kept avoiding his eyes, keeping her own fixed on her plate.

     Mamoru tried several times to speak, but the words kept dying in his throat. I can't bring it up, he thought. I know what you're thinking, Usa-ko...I'll just have to wait for you to say something.

     After a few minutes, Usagi raised her eyes to meet Mamoru's, and hesitantly, shakily, opened her mouth. "Mamo-chan, there's something I need to--"

     A knock on the door interrupted her. With an audible sigh of temporary relief, Usagi quickly stood up. "I'll get it!" Mamoru thought she said--he wasn't entirely sure, because it was just a mass of jumbled words left in the air as Usagi bolted for the door.

     She reached for the knob, but was hit with a wave of panic. Oh God, am I doing the right thing? What am I thinking, going through with this?

     Before she could change her mind, she grabbed the knob and yanked the door open, slightly afraid of what would happen once she did.

     Oh God, what am I going to say, Mamo-chan, Seiya, what am I doing...?

     "Hi."

     Usagi's thoughts left her mind with such suddenness that she nearly passed out. It was the same feeling she had experienced over and over since Seiya had come back. A smile crept up on her flushed face. But then, when I see you, I know. There's no doubt anymore, is there?

     "Hi."

     Seiya followed Usagi into the apartment, bracing himself for a punch in the face. How did she talk me into being here? Yaten would probably say I'm whipped.

     Mamoru stood up to greet him. "Hi, Seiya-kun, how are you tonight?" His tone and demeanor were typically pleasant, but Seiya got the feeling that Mamoru was a little different that evening.

     He accepted Mamoru's handshake with more than a little uncertainty. "Better than most, not as good as some, I guess you could say." Mamoru chuckled heartily.

     Usagi, too, was becoming a little unnerved at Mamoru's cheery attitude. "Mamo-chan... I asked Seiya to come here tonight, because I have something to tell you, and I want to say it to both of you."

     "Okay, Usa-ko, you know you can tell me anything." He settled back on the couch and observed the visibly nervous Usagi and Seiya. Here we go.

     "Well, Mamo-chan--"

     "Yes?"

     Usagi's eyebrow twitched, just a little. Being interrupted isn't making me any less nervous.

     "--When the Starlights left three years ago, you remember how depressed I was, right?"

     Mamoru smiled thinly. "Of course. It was so unlike you, it was difficult to forget."

     Seiya cocked his head. Depressed? So, all this time that I was pining for her...

     "Well, it wasn't just because I missed them. I did--I missed them, and Kakyuu-san, and Galaxia, and ChibiChibi. But...what I felt was something else." She wrung her hands in her lap. "I felt empty, because I lost someone I loved." She cast a deep glance in Seiya's direction.

     Mamoru had known all along that she would say these words, but he still felt a small, wrenching pang of shock in his chest. Wow. There it is.

     Seiya immediately picked up on Mamoru's unease and gripped the arms of his chair.

     "So...you, Usa-ko"--he pointed at her, slowly--"and Seiya-kun...are you...in love? Is that what you're trying to say?" He sat forward on the couch, imploring her with his eyes.

     Usagi let some tears glide down her face; she didn't really notice them, actually. She sat still, very quiet, for a few moments. Seiya's grip on the armrests became significantly tighter. I hope she isn't hesitating because she's changed her mind.

     "...Yes. I love Seiya. More than I can say."

     Seiya remained silent, listening.

     Mamoru tread softly with his words. "If you loved him all this time, why didn't you say anything to me? To anyone?"

     The tears flowed out harder now, and Usagi, for her part, did nothing to hold them back. "Oh Mamo-chan, I thought it would stop! I thought that if I just waited, I wouldn't feel that way anymore! I wanted more than anything to just forget, because we have this perfect life, and ChibiUsa, and Crystal Tokyo...I thought I did forget, after a while. But when I saw that letter...I knew it had never stopped! I can't make it stop!" She didn't know which of them to cry on, so she pulled her knees up and wept into her lap, curled up in a ball on the sofa.

     Mamoru maneuvered his hand behind her knees, and managed to pull her face up by her chin. "Hey...Usa-ko...it's all right. I'm not angry."

     Her tears stopped, and she peered at him incredulously. "You-You're not? Really?"

     Despite himself, Mamoru began to chuckle again. Those grew into loud laughter. "Usa-ko... don't you know how terrible you are at keeping secrets?"

     She stared. "You KNEW?"

     Mamoru became serious again. "Usa-ko. I love you. I can tell when you're bothered by something. I was heartbroken when I realized why you were so upset, but...it's okay." He choked up as he continued to speak, but pressed on, and addressed both of them. "I won't let you deny your feelings for each other." To Usagi, he finished, "It's not my place to dictate your life."

     "Mamoru-san, you too?! What is wrong with you?!"

     The three turned to the doorway, the source of the voice, where Hotaru stood, seething, and holding the hand of a rapidly-fading ChibiUsa.

     Mamoru and Usagi rushed to ChibiUsa, but Hotaru shoved her away. "Stay back! You don't have the right to touch her! This is your fault, Usagi-san!"

     Seiya turned white. "...Oh my God...Little Odango...is she...disappearing?"

     Hotaru turned her anger on Seiya. "OF COURSE SHE'S DISAPPEARING! What did you think would happen when you stole our Princess away from her Prince? You son of a bitch!"

     ChibiUsa finally spoke. "Hotaru-chan, please don't--"

     "Don't what? I can't let this happen! Don't any of you understand the consequences of what you're doing? Usagi-san--Princess--you have a destiny! Are you going to just throw that away for HIM?!"

     "Hotaru...you still don't get it, do you?"

     Everyone once again turned to the doorway, where Haruka stood, glaring at her daughter, with Michiru on her arm.

     "Haruka-papa, don't you tell me about GETTING IT! We are Sailor Senshi, and we have a duty to protect our Prince and Princess, and to keep them together! We can't turn our backs on this! You don't understand anything!"

     Michiru's blank expression broke into one of sorrow as, her eyes, brimming with shiny tears, penetrated Hotaru's angry ones. "No, you don't understand! If Haruka and I had followed our 'destiny,' we would have killed you long ago! Do you know who stopped that? This destiny of ours is meaningless! We need to shape our own lives!"

     Hotaru didn't respond to that. "Why are you two here, anyway? Are you following me?"

     Michiru lowered her eyes. "No, we're here for a different reason. Tell them, Haruka."

     Haruka, with a pained expression, removed some neatly folded sheets of paper, and handed them to Usagi. "Read."

     "A letter? From Setsuna-san? What...?" She read the words silently, painfully. Once she was capable of speaking again, she read aloud:

     "My friends,

     I am terribly sorry for all the pain that has been endured these past few days. I have realized that I could have prevented a great deal of your sorrow. I have been too careless with the use of time travel, too lax with my position as the Time Gate's guardian. This connection with the present and the future has caused all of you to assume that certain outcomes are set in stone. Nothing is set in stone. Each of you needs to work for the future you want. I allowed you to see too much of one possible future, and my mistake has hurt everyone.

     I decided that I need to fix some of these breaches in the space-time continuum, and so I have returned to my post at the Time Gate. Please do not pity me because of my loneliness--I am never lonely, because I am able to watch over all of you, my dearest friends, eternally. I could not ask for a better task. But I will still miss all of you, more than words can describe.

     Usagi--Sailor Moon--you are capable of wonderful things. Please do not forget your own power to help shape our futures... and please, live a happy life with those you love. That is more important than anything. We all need to concentrate on that.

     Hotaru...I am sorry that my carelessness has hurt you so much. I love you. As if you were my own daughter. I know you will be happy one day, and I cannot wait to see you then.

     I send all of you my love and support. Please be healthy and happy.

     Meiou Setsuna
     Sailor Pluto"

     Everyone in the room, even Haruka, was crying. ChibiUsa closed her eyes, and pictured Sailor Pluto's face, always sad, but always with a hint of a smile, for her Small Lady. "Puu..."

     Hotaru buried her face in her hands. "Setsuna-mama, you've left me too? Why are you all leaving me? WHY?!"

     Usagi let the letter drop to the floor. "I-I can't believe she left. Why...?"

     Hotaru spun to face her. "How can you ask WHY?! She left because of what you're doing! I've had enough of everyone thinking that this is okay! I'm not going to let ChibiUsa-chan die!" She took her transformation wand out of her back pocket. "Saturn Crystal Power Make UP!"

     Haruka watched in shock as Hotaru transformed. "Hotaru, what do you think you're doing?!"

     "Hotaru-chan..." ChibiUsa breathed, as she faded away further, and became more and more transparent. "Please don't do this, Hotaru-chan..."

     "Now," Saturn said, wielding her Silence Glaive, "I'm going to end this."

     Michiru gasped. "Sailor Saturn...you wouldn't!"

     Mamoru stepped in front of Usagi, who was holding onto Seiya. "I won't let you do this, Saturn!"

     Saturn had lost Hotaru's tearful rage--she was now cold, clinical. "I do not wish to involve you, Prince. Step aside!"

     "I won't move until you put down that weapon!"

     "No! I will not stop until I've removed Usagi-san's--Sailor Moon's--source of confusion." She menacingly pointed her weapon at Seiya.

     "Hotaru-chan, you have to stop! I'm begging you!" Usagi approached Saturn, pleadingly, arms outstretched. "Please!"

     "It's too late for that. If I must kill him to keep my ChibiUsa-chan alive, I will." She then raised the Silence Glaive above her head.

     Tears fell from ChibiUsa's eyes, and she collapsed, hands pressed to her head. How can you kill so coldly, even if it's for me?

     "Silence Glaive--"

     "HOTARU-CHAN, STOP!"

     "--Surprise!"

     ChibiUsa's cry came too late--a surge of black power flew toward Seiya.

     After that, time seemed to slow. An explosion of the Glaive's power hit, and a small figure crumpled before it.

     Saturn's fingers slackened, and her weapon clattered on the floor. "Oh...no..."

     Seiya stared with numb shock at the girl in his arms, battered and bleeding. "ODANGO!" Mamoru, Haruka and Michiru rushed to the pair.

     "Odango...Odango...why did you do that...?"

     Usagi finally opened her eyes, and stared up at the man holding her. "I'm tired of people jumping in front of attacks for me, protecting me." She coughed and shivered. "I love them that much too. I love you. Can't I protect you, just this once?"

     Haruka checked Usagi's pulse. "Well, I think she'll be okay...Goddammit, what a stupid little kitten you are..."

     "I'm sorry, Haruka-san...I had to do it, though." She smiled weakly.

     Saturn, meanwhile, was shaking, in hysterics. "Oh my God...I attacked Usagi-san...I attacked the Princess...oh my God..." She knelt before her fading friend. "ChibiUsa-chan...what have I done?"

     ChibiUsa tried to hug her, but her hands merely went through Saturn. She sighed. "I don't have too much time left. I think you could hug me, if you tried--my body is still kind of solid. Would you? Please?"

     "Yeah...anything for you."

     Saturn held ChibiUsa in her arms. "Oh...ChibiUsa-chan, why must you die? I'll be so lonely without you..."

     The pink-haired girl smiled a little. "They're right--you don't understand, Hotaru-chan." She leaned her head on the taller girl's chest. "I won't die. Not if you believe you'll see me again."

     "But how...I don't want you to leave me!"

     "All you have to do is believe. I thought you would have learned that by now. You used to believe, didn't you?"

     Saturn's face scrunched up with pain. "I can't believe now. Not with you here, disappearing in front of me..."

     "Well, I believe in you. I know you'll be able to believe again, okay?" She removed her body from Saturn's embrace. "I'm sorry, Hotaru-chan, but I have to say goodbye." She stood and walked to the others, but turned to look upon Hotaru, one more time. "Remember, you have to believe."

     "ChibiUsa-chan...I wish I could. For you."

     "Seiya-san," she said, making them all turn to her, "can I tell you something?"

     He swallowed hard. "Yes. Anything."

     "Okay," she said, and closed her eyes. "Once, I asked Mama about you. She told me the story of how you and Taiki-san and Yaten-san fought against Galaxia, and protected her. I asked her if she ever saw you again, and she said no. I don't know why I asked, but I said, 'Mama, did you love Seiya-san?' She...wouldn't answer me. I've never seen Mama look as sad as she did then. And I remember that Papa looked sad, too." She tried, and failed, to hold Seiya's hand, so she settled for putting her hand through his. "I think Mama was sad because she never was able to be with you, Seiya-san. So..." she trailed off, trying to hold back her tears, "...so, even if she's not my Mama anymore, I want her to be happy. Make her happy, okay, Seiya-san?"

     Seiya couldn't speak; he just nodded, and cried.

     "And you have to always make sure Usagi has a lot of snacks around, because she gets mad when she doesn't have something to snack on...and you have to protect her, too, because she doesn't know how to fight...stupid Usagi..."

     Seiya choked back more tears. "I'll protect her, I swear."

     She turned away from Seiya. "Mamo-chan...please be happy! Can you be happy without me?"

     "I'll try my best, ChibiUsa," Mamoru said, gently hugging what he could of her.

     "And Mamo-chan, you know you have to protect her too, because she's so stupid she needs two men keeping her out of trouble..."

     Mamoru laughed through his tears, despite himself. "We'll both protect her. Right, Seiya-kun?"

     "...Right, Mamoru-san. You're right."

     ChibiUsa nodded, and sat down next to Usagi. "Hey, Usagi..."

     "Hi, ChibiUsa...do you hate me?"

     She smiled. "No, I could never hate you, stupid." But she tried to get past the pain and give Usagi a stern look. "But you had better make Seiya happy, and make everyone proud of you! Or I'll never forgive you!"

     "ChibiUsa..." Usagi burst into tears again. "I'll miss you so much..."

     "Goodbye, Usagi," she said, and faded a little more. "I had fun with you. Tell everyone else goodbye too, okay?"

     Usagi held the nearly-gone girl. "I will. Goodbye..."

     And, the next instant, ChibiUsa vanished from Usagi's arms.

~***~