"What happened doesn't change anything!"
A stunned beat of silence follows the exclamation and for a moment, her world shifts and begins to crumble. "But…" She can't even find the words. "But Mamo-chan…" She watches as his jaw clenches and he turns away, the eyes behind the mask pained. "You saved me." She forces the phrase through trembling lips, keeping her eyes wide, to keep the tears from falling that had begun to gather.
"Don't mistake that for something it's not." He hated himself. He truly, honestly hated himself for what he was saying, for what he was doing to her. He remains turned away, knowing full well what will happen if he looks at her. "You're too important to the world to let die." Right. The world. He hears her sharp intake of breath as his words wound her, as he knew they would. The last two hours race through his mind in a tumble of images- the flash of an attack, the smell of singed skin, the sharp contrast of her golden hair against the concrete. Against his better judgment, he turns back to her, his gaze traveling up from her boots, sweeping across the tattered remains of her skirt, and up to her ribcage, where he could see the wound she had been left with. The white of her leotard was stained with blood, the wound angry and red against her flesh. His own blood began to boil and a hand clenches tightly into a fist as his eyes find hers.
After all that they had been through, both in this life and their last, this was his choice? No, she could not believe that! Her knees are trembling, her shoulders curving inward as she hangs her head, golden hair a curtain over her face. She looks up and he's staring at her, the mask gone, his azure eyes swirling with his emotions. His face remains passive, but his eyes say it all. Her side aches and a hand reaches up, to gently lay across it, flinching as her gloved hand makes contact. When she pulls it away, her glove is stained red. Her eyes travel from the blood and then back to his face, her eyes pleading, but she found he has turned away once more. "This can't be the end." She says helplessly, her voice a thread, her hands clench into fists at her sides as she stares ahead at him, though he has completely turned away.
"It is." He says simply, taking the first steps away from her. Everything about this was wrong, he knows it. He should have been beside her, checking her wound, ensuring that she was safe and well. But he could not. The images from his nightmares flash before his eyes once more and it is settled. His gait picks up and he hears her calling his name, but he doesn't even bother to look back. It better she think him cold and heartless. Mamoru knows she will hate him and he is glad- he would do anything to keep her safe, even if that meant her resentment. He would shoulder the weight of guilt for what he has done and she will be free to move on. He will be the bad guy and she will be safe. That was what mattered.
She watches as he walks away from her, feeling her heart as it shatters into thousands of pieces. A strangled sob escapes and she falls to her knees. Her hands rise to cover her face as she cries, his footsteps echoing in her mind as he goes without even looking back. She feels the comforting hands of her Senshi and she rises with them, their arms around her, their soft voices offering words of comfort. In a flash of light they are all returned to their normal selves but left behind are their wounds- some physical, some emotional, and for one both. The anguish is all too real as they steer her back in the direction of home- of Rei-chan's shrine, where they will take care of her, where they will try to make everything feel normal once more.
But nothing will ever be normal again.