A/N: This story is dedicated to Jet Wolf, over on tumblr. Mostly because she came up with the addictions in an ask and I just couldn't help but put them all down in a story. Enjoy!

There are two things that are a certainty where life is concerned for the Sailor Scouts. The first is that they will always follow Sailor Moon, no matter where she goes. The second is that, when one falls, the others are sure to follow.

It's just one of those unspoken facts of life. Be it in battle, in school, or at the arcade. If one of their core falters, even just slightly, it sets everything else off balance.

This, my friends, is what they have always feared. It is also exactly what happened, one fateful spring day. Not all at once, of course, but gradually. Slowly. Like a pebble had been thrown into the water, and each ripple just made things worse, acting as a problem that, for once, the Scouts could not solve.

And it started, believe it or not, with one of the strongest girls. The core pillar if you would, who wavered and swayed and stumbled, only to fall and bring everyone else down around her.

Lita Kino may not have been known for being a leader, but she was one of the sole reasons that they succeeded so often. Like her name-sake and her powers and her past, she was as sturdy as an oak tree. Solid and loyal and unwavering. Which was probably why it shook the scouts to their core when she did, finally, fall.

It was a slow descent and one that, honestly, Lita had been expecting even where the others weren't. Smoking was not new to her, after all.
When she was young, younger then she was than at least, Lita had been known for sneaking into gas stations and faking her age. Using her height to an advantage and showing off that fake card of hers, just so that she could purchase a pack or two. She didn't need to duck around corners at home to smoke them, and teachers never tried to deter her.

At first, they would last her for a while. One, maybe two packs, and she would be good for the month. Then it took three, four, five, until Lita was going through half a pack a day.

Then, suddenly, her life changed. She was shipped to a new school and fell head-first into a new life. One where there was no time for smoking. One where her friends, they kept her occupied and the urges just weren't there.

It was hard to think of something so unsavory when you were around Serena, after all, and Lita found the blonde's smile almost more comforting then the feel of smoke burning at her throat.

One by one, the family that Lita found herself in began to grow, until the urge to smoke was completely gone. The half-empty pack of cigarettes sat in her dresser drawer for nearly four months.

And then, Lita died. Not metaphorically, but literally. Her heart quit beating and the blood ceased to pump through her veins, and she knew nothing but the sort of stifling black that devoured everything else. Lita could not think and did not know anything.

When, eventually, she lived again, things were different. That choking sensation of darkdarkdark was everywhere and Lita just couldn't take it anymore.

So, as she had done when she was young and alone, Lita turned to the gentle burn of nicotine. One a day, two a day, three a day - whenever the stress of protecting not just her family but the entire world, and some days it was worse then others, it was just too much to take, and Lita just sat in her bedroom and smoked and smoked and smoked.

And it was fine, Lita told herself, because it was how she always dealt with these things. At least, it was fine until the others noticed. Rather, Minako noticed.

"What's that smell?" asked Minako, waving her hand over her nose in a motion that was far too dramatic.

At least, in Lita's opinion, because she couldn't smell a thing. Just the scent of her fish slowly cooking in the oven, the rosemary permeating the air. "I don't smell anything bad."

From the doorway, Minako pulled a face. Dramatics were her thing, you see, and this was no exception. "How can't you smell that? It's, ugh, like something's burning!"

Lips pursing, Lita made it a point to give a good sniff. "Nope. I just smell dinner, and I know that's not burning."

"Well something is," muttered Minako, walking further into the taller girl's apartment. Her sharp blue eyes took in Lita's living room, trying to find anything out of place. Because there most certainly was something wrong, and she had known that for a while now.

Idly moving from the kitchen into the living room, Minako took her time looking around. At the pictures on the wall, at the set-up of the room, at the small things that most would miss but Minako wouldn't, couldn't, because she was the leader.

There was nothing though, and the blonde found herself giving a heavy sigh. "I know that something's up, Lita. That's why I came by so early. I wanted to speak to you about it."

Lita's voice drifted out from the kitchen, and she sounded more confused then defensive. "Nothing's up, Mina'. At least not that I can tell. You don't think there's an issue with the daimon, do you? I mean, that we're missing something?"

"No, not like that. I meant that something's up with you, and I can tell." said Minako, shaking her head. She turned around, planning on heading into the kitchen and confronting the other girl, only to freeze in her tracks. Breath caught in Minako's throat and her heart seemed to stop.

Standing in the doorway of the kitchen, was Lita. Between her plump, pink lips, was a lit cigarette.

The first crack was made.

Now, one might think that it wasn't such a big deal. This one little flaw, it shouldn't have done much. But it did. It was the crack that broke the mirror, the straw that broke the camels back, if you would.

And it may not have. In another world, another reality, Minako would have told the other scouts the moment that they showed up at Lita's house. An intervention would have taken place, because they could not allow one of their own to succumb to such a deadly habit.

But, in that reality, Minako felt that it would have been best for Lita to handle things on her own. She was a strong girl, after all, and there was no reason that she couldn't handle a little thing such as smoking on her own.

Except that, as time passed, it didn't get better. It got worse, until Lita always seemed to have a cigarette between her lips, whenever she thought the others weren't looking. Sometimes, even when they were.

It wasn't just Lita that it was affecting though, with a persistent cough and the lingering odor of smoke. It was Minako as well, who suddenly found a new problem to try and balance on her shoulders. It was something that she was used too, working through problems, but this was different.

This wasn't something that Minako could fight off. She couldn't talk it down into submission. This was an addiction. An inanimate issue that could not be solved just by brandishing a fist or a nasty glare.

Time passed. Lita smoked. And Minako found that she could not take it on her own anymore. Could not carry the burden without help.
So she turned to the one thing that would not judge her for showing weakness where a leader should have been strong. Minako began to drink.

As with Lita, it wasn't very noticeable at first. Minako was good at hiding things, had always been good at shoving things away and keeping them under wraps. The fact that drinking just seem to heighten her normal boisterous personality just helped her keep it covered up and out of sight.

During the day, Minako laughed like she always did. She spoke and her voice was its usual chirp. She laughed, and it was loud and reassuring. She listened, and always looked so intent, those blue eyes never once growing clouded.

Not until the darkest parts of the night, when she was locked in her bedroom alone and even Artemis couldn't get to her. It was then that she broke down and the bottle seemed to sway her, trapping her in blood-red thoughts and a heavy mist of smoke, that choked and clawed and gripped at her throat, even though it wasn't really there.

Time passed, and it was just a fluke that the throws of Minako's misery was discovered.

It was dark out, and the clouds billowed across the sky like black waves. Thunder shattered the otherwise silent night and lightning sent flashes of white through the night. Shots of light that was almost completely covered up by the heavy shroud of rain that was falling, turning the entire city gray.

And poor Rei Hino was stuck in the downpour, running through the cold water as though her life depended on it. As though her friends and family were at stake. And, really, they were. Someone was, at least. Rei knew it.

The fire had told her such. Had all but screamed it at Rei, telling her with embers and shadows that she needed to run and run fast. It didn't tell her who was in danger though, didn't tell the priestess where she needed to go.

So Rei took a chance and ran for Minako's, because surely the level-headed soldier would be able to help.

Rei didn't knock, just threw open the door. The sound of wood hitting plaster startled Artemis, who leapt to his feet and demanded to know what was wrong. The white-furred cat was ignored though, and instead the panicked soldier ran for Minako's bedroom. Threw open the door. And screamed.

Sometimes, things start out slowly and progress just as slow. For the descent of the scouts though, it started out slow and then just spiraled out of control, in a fast path to madness. They Sailor Scouts were down by two, and no one had even noticed yet. Or rather, they had noticed but hadn't been able to put together the pieces.

Couldn't look at Lita and see a problem, because she only smoked here and there. Couldn't look at Minako and see that there was an issue, because she was still her normal bubbly self, if a little louder. Couldn't look at Rei and see danger, because she was Rei and that should have been enough.

Except that it wasn't. Being Rei wasn't enough to get away from the guilt or the burden that had been passed onto her, when Minako could no longer carry it. It would never erase the vision of red, so much red, that the fire had given her that night nor would it change the look on Minako's face when Rei had burst into her bedroom that night.

All that it did was make it harder to spot.

Time passed, and Rei could only think of moving forward. Of training harder and harder, because the daimons were just getting stronger and the threat of death loomed around every corner.

Each day brought forth less time for relaxing and talking. Gave less time to sleep. To do much of anything but work.

Eventually, someone had to notice. If only, if only, it wasn't their loving princess. Serena confronted Rei, sat her down and spoke to the dark-haired girl with tears in her eyes and a trembling voice.

So Rei slept, and the dark circles beneath her eyes slowly disappeared. With it, went her weight and energy and strength.

"Rei, I need to talk to you."

Rei didn't give her princess an answer, just kept sweeping off the front of her porch. Watching as the leaves scattered, dark against white.

"Please, Rei. Tell me what's wrong."

There was a surprising amount of determination when Serena spoke, but Rei tried to ignore it. Couldn't speak, because there were too many layers of secrets there, too much that couldn't ever be revealed to someone as fragile as the blonde behind her.

"I promise you, I'll do everything that I can to help."

Rei knew that her princess meant every word right then. And that's what made it so bad, so impossible to say anything back.

There was nothing in the world that could make Rei darken her princesses heart with such heavy thoughts. And so she swept the leaves and said nothing.

Eventually, Serena had no choice but to go home.

And in other worlds, where the people are the same but the stories are different, the Sailor Scouts would come together. They would realize that Serena was able to handle the news, in a way that no one else could. As always, the blonde princess would be their savior.

In this world though, protecting Serena meant more then their own lives. And letting their princess know about their dark secrets and heavy burdens, about the fact that they felt they were no longer sufficient enough to keep her safe in battle or out of it, that would have done the complete opposite. It would have made Serena feel like she had to protect them instead.

So they kept quiet and didn't say anything, never realizing that they were causing more harm then good.

Serena, you see, is far more perceptive than most think she is. Especially where her friends are concerned. This, it was no exception.

Time passed, and Serena tried to save them. To open her heart and let out the light that had always guided her scouts to the right path in the past. Only this time, they were oblivious to her gentle glow.

And, as would be expected, eventually Serena herself broke.

Food had always been a comfort for Serena. It was there when no one else was, back before she had met Molly and was as close to being an outcast as possible. It was there, when the scouts did not remember her. It was there, when Lita began to cough and Minako grew pensive and they always smelled like /fear/.

And it was there, when Rei quit eating. Haunting Serena at every turn, cajoling her because she was eating when her best friend, her sister, wasn't.

But where Rei was strong of will, Serena wasn't. She couldn't go long without a meal, and so she indulged. Ate and ate until her stomach hurt, because she had passed on meals earlier in the day and, dear Lord, why was she doing this again?

It wouldn't be until later in the day, after Serena had eaten her fill, that it would hit her as to /why/ exactly she had tried not to eat that day. If Rei wouldn't eat, then why did she deserve the precious reserves of energy that it gave? Why did she get the peace that her scouts did not?

As far as she was concerned, she didn't. And the bathroom was her reprieve from the guilt, as vomit burnt at her throat and tears welled in her eyes.

Time passed, and they still could have been saved. Could have found help in young Amy Mizuno, who had always wanted wanted to heal people anyways. By anyone that had stopped to look at them closely, to easily see that something was different from how they once had been.

Except that, at this point, even Amy was lost in the throes of anxiety and depression. It was too much for the frail-hearted girl, that had never had much faith in herself to begin with. There was no clear place to start, and logical facts and numbers could not save her friends.

Medicine, even, could not save her friends. But it could help Amy get through the day without quite as much pressure built up in her chest and trying to choke her. And so Amy opened up the cabinet that her mother seldom went in and slowly, the bottles began to empty and the pills disappeared into Amy, until there was nothing left of the happy girl that had once been there.

But it was alright, thought Amy, because the medication was helping her. It was the only thing that made being around her broken and shattered and dying family bearable any more.

The Sailor Scouts were connected, in ways that no one could see. And, when one fell, she brought the others down around her. When their pillar of strength faded, they could no longer stand. When their guiding light began to falter, it became clear to everyone that there was no hope left.

And so, one by one, they fell. Scared little girls with everything to lose and nothing to gain. Afraid of breaking each other and hurting themselves in the process.

Lost in a dark that they had brought upon themselves, but so many could have help lift. Lost...and broken.