AN: Last chapter, folks. Jokes! Second last. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I've been so busy recently I only have time to post this super quick, and I've been neglecting my disclaimers. I don't own Sailor Moon, and you can thank the awesome Kaitlyn Fall (OMG WELCOME BACK TO INTERNET-LAND!) for betaing this. YAAAAAY!


Something inside Tuxedo Mask snapped. "No!" he cried, his laughter cutting off as he watched in horror the blonde heroine disappear from view. Scrambling to his feet, he flung his barrage of roses at the monster and ran for the broken wall of the bridge, diving right over the edge without a second thought.

The swirling mass of the night sea came to him with frightening speed, but he only had one thought racing through his mind: I've gotta save her. I've gotta save her!

He plunged into the icy depths, propelling through the water and going down... down... down... down. He was thankful that his superhuman senses meant he was able to see clearly under the water, the salt only stinging his eyes minutely. He could see her. She was sinking, limply floating deeper and deeper into the ocean.

Terror seized his heart. Her eyes were closed... She wasn't fighting back! With the agility of a professional athlete, he torpedoed after her, closing the gap between them in seconds and pulling her lifeless body into his arms. From there, he began kicking his legs, pushing them harder and faster towards the surface. His whole body had numbed, the icy water making him feel sluggish as his muscles began growing tired. The carbon dioxide building in his lungs told him he was running out of oxygen. He needed air. And the surface seemed to mock him, looming high above them, beckoning them to reach it before they drowned. He was glad he'd ditched the cape – it would only be dragging them down. Closer and closer they came to the land above, he could just see the bright lights of the bridge glimmering in the distance. With the last of his energy – and breath – he kicked until they broke the surface of the choppy sea.

Tuxedo Mask gasped in a large lungful of air, the cold night stinging his face, like thousands of tiny needles prickling at his skin. He pulled Sailor Moon up beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder to keep it above water, his arm holding her upright around her waist. Tossing his matted fringe out of his eyes, he glanced around, looking for the shore.

He was in luck. They were relatively close. Only eighty metres or so away from the border of a park, a small grassy knoll ending at the water's edge. It was closer than he'd expected, but still far. Readjusting his grip on Sailor Moon, the tuxedo clad hero began pulling her alongside him as he struggled against the water, his energy levels already depleted.

He struggled. His legs were protesting any further movement, and the arm he was holding Sailor Moon upright with was aching terribly. He had to stop several times, just to suck in more air, still winded as he was.

But his will got them through, and soon enough, he threw them both onto the grass, gasping for air once more. Turning to his partner, what he saw made his blood run cold.

Her skin was paler than it usually was, and her eyelids looked strange, like they were almost transparent. He could see the tiny veins in them, glowing blue in the moonlight. But perhaps the most concerning, was the fact that her icy blue lips weren't moving. She wasn't breathing.

Tuxedo Mask swore lowly and began CPR. Through his preoccupied state of mind, he barely registered the sound of an explosion nearby as he performed the resuscitation procedure that had been drilled into him from a young age.

After what seemed like an eternity – when really, it could have only been a few minutes – the girl beneath him began responding. Desperate hands pushed against his chest, and he leant back to give her room. Rolling to her side, Sailor Moon wretched a large amount of salty water, her whole body shuddering at the taste. She spluttered and panted for a minute or two before she sank back down to the ground, her arms having given way. With a gloved hand, she wiped across her mouth and opened her eyes. As the crystal blue orbs focused on him, and his terror subsided, he felt a strange feeling overcome him. A sudden clicking in place, as if something very essential had been realised.

It took her a few tries to speak, as her mouth quivered in what looked like horror. "T-Tuxedo Mask?" Sailor Moon whispered, slowly sitting up.

"You need to sit back down," he said, gently pushing her back to the ground by her shoulder, which she fought. "You could have -"

But something in her expression had the words die on his lips. He was faintly aware of the sound of footsteps somewhere nearby.

"I..." Sailor Moon licked her lips, which were slowly gaining their colour again, and swung her eyes to her boots, which were slick with water. He could see the coloured lights of Rainbow Bridge reflecting on them. "Sailor Moon! Are you all right?"

"Sailor Moon!"

Before either of them knew what was happening, Sailor Moon was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug. Sailor Jupiter's chestnut curls tumbled over her shoulder as the tall girl buried her face in Sailor Moon's neck.

Sailor Mercury dived beside the pair, picking up the blonde's hand and squeezing it. Taking her other hand to find a pulse, she silently counted the beats as she drummed the time on her leg with the other. "She's fine, everyone!" she declared, turning to the remaining two Scouts. "Her heartbeat's up, but she's fine!"

Her dark blue eyes turned to Tuxedo Mask with gratitude. "Thank you, Tuxedo Mask. Thank you for saving her."

Tuxedo Mask nodded once, tersely, as Sailor Moon wiggled her way free from Sailor Jupiter's embrace. Her eyes were guarded, her expression wary. She blinked, but remained silent. The Scouts picked up on this immediately, swinging their eyes from their leader to the man sitting opposite her, like a tennis match.

Sailor Mars desperately wanted to ask what was going on. The tension between the two was palpable – and she wasn't just picking that up from their psyches. Were they back to normal, or just happy to be alive – and still reversed?

Sailor Moon dropped her eyes to the ground as Tuxedo Mask turned to survey the water. The four Scouts exchanged various looks.

"Please everyone," Sailor Moon suddenly said, in a voice not more than a whisper. "Take me home."

When Sailor Venus opened her mouth to argue, Sailor Mars elbowed her and gestured to their leader's expression. Confusion and shock was written across Sailor Moon's face.

Sailor Jupiter got to her feet silently and offered her hand to her friend. When Sailor Moon took it, she swung her around until she was nestled behind her, piggyback style. Silently, she took off, leaving the others to follow.

When just Sailor Mars remained, the Scout placed a kind hand on Tuxedo Mask's shoulder before bounding off after her friends. Tuxedo Mask lingered a little while longer before also taking off in the direction of his home.


Friday played out much like any regular Friday would for Serena. She got up, raced to school – just making it before the tardy bell – received a detention and failed a test. Ms Haruna assumed Serena was back to normal and wasn't as harsh as she could have been, but she was still disappointed that the girl who'd had so much potential, if only for a week, had 'gone backwards'.

Her friends promised to meet her at the arcade after her detention finished, and Serena had half-heartedly agreed. The trouble was, her mind had been so preoccupied all day, she was simply walking around as if she were still in some dream.

Amy, Lita, Mina and Raye met that afternoon in their regular booth to discuss the newest development in their friend's drama. All waited expectantly for Amy to speak first. She had one theory.

"The shock," she began, as she leaned into the table to lower her voice. "My only theory is that the shock of her brush with death must have jolted her limbic system back to her old 'settings'."

"But you said the brain couldn't be regenerated," Lita said with a frown, tapping her finger on the table. "So how can that work?"

Amy thought about her answer carefully. "Perhaps an overload of such fear caused the brain to react violently. Or perhaps even her central nervous system reacted, the trauma being a little too much for it to handle in such a highly stressful situation. Sometimes your brain and your body will react in two completely opposite ways simultaneously, and that can cause you to... Oh, I don't know!" She threw her hands up in the air. "I'm not a brain surgeon, I'm a teenager, all right?"

"Sorry, Ames," Raye apologised, with the others murmuring agreements. "We know that, we're just a little stressed. We didn't know what was happening, and you're usually the one to explain things for us."

"Well," Amy sighed, "it looks like we got our wish. Serena and Darien are back to normal."

"Yeah, but not normal enough. Now they're avoiding each other and Serena's acting really weird. I think they haven't figured it out yet." Lita pursed her lips, a sad expression crossing her features. "We should explain what happened to them, guys. It's not fair for them to be walking around, feeling like they suddenly went crazy for a week."

Mina nodded. "I can tell Serena, if you like," she offered.

"And I can talk to Darien," Raye said. "He may not be in the right mood to talk right now, but it's better he's not left in the dark forever."

Amy glanced at the clock. "Serena should be here soon, so we'd better change the subject. We don't want to bring it up unnecessarily yet, she might not want to hear it from all of us here. The arcade isn't the most private of places..."

"Hey Andrew!" Mina called, leaning out of her seat and waving a hand around to catch their friend's attention. "Can we get some drinks over here?"

The blonde missed the sweatdrops and faceplants as she continued to wave her hand around.

"Like you were saying, Ames?," Lita groaned.


"So you're saying the Negaverse was controlling me?" Darien asked in disbelief. Raye closed her eyes and shook her head.

"No, I'm saying that one of their monsters was able to leave you with a lasting side- effect , and it was scrambling your brain signals."

Darien groaned and dragged his hands down his face. "Okay. Start from the beginning one more time. Last Friday night, during the battle..."


"Thanks for clearing that up for me, Mina," Serena gave a small smile to her friend as they stopped at her front door. She opened it and Mina stepped out. "And I'm sorry about... You know, what I said before. About you being a Negaverse spy."

Her friend laughed and waved off her apology. "No harm done," she smiled. "I'm just glad you're back to your old self! My Serena is back!"

"Yeah," Serena smiled, "I guess she is."

"Okay, well, see you bright and early tomorrow morning! And by that, I mean 11.30!"

Serena waved as Mina began skipping down the path, waiting until the blonde was out of sight before shutting the door and letting her smile drop. Sighing, she leant her head against the wooden panel of her door, squeezing her eyes shut to comprehend all that she'd just been told.

"You shouldn't fool your friends, you know," a voice sounded from beside her. Serena didn't bother looking at Luna.

"I'm not fooling them," she said. "I'm just... Well how can they expect me to just forget this ever happened? I stuffed up a whole lot of things while I was under the influence."

"Under the influence?" Luna mused. Serena could practically hear her eyebrows rise in amusement. "I like that definition. That's a good way of looking at it."

Serena's fist clenched momentarily on the door before she spun around and walked past the feline. As she climbed the stairs, she could hear Luna's lithe steps just behind her. By the time she reached her room, she stumbled to her bed and collapsed on it.

"Luna, when did everything become such a mess?" she moaned, staring up at her ceiling. Not even the glow in the dark bunny stickers she'd placed up there could distract her now. "I just don't understand!"

The soft pressure beside her alerted her to the cat's position. Curling up beside the blonde's hip, Luna spoke.

"I know that you're very confused about all this right now, Serena, and I understand. It's a very difficult situation that you are, or were, in. Of course it's acceptable that your emotions are all muddled up."

"But that's just the thing, Luna! Apparently my head is back, but I'm just not feeling it. And now with school, and my family, and Darien! Oh my god, Darien! He must be thinking... No, I have no idea what he must think of me now. And I don't want to! I've never been so humiliated in all my life!"

"He did go through the exact same thing you did, though," her companion pointed out.

Serena huffed and slammed her fists onto the mattress. "But that's different! It's... He's... I mean... It's not the same, Luna, okay? It's just... not!"

If Luna thought otherwise, she didn't say so. Together, they spent the next few minutes in silence; Serena reflecting on the past week and what Mina had told her, and Luna remembering the pattern.

Serena remembered hearing about Darien's lonely childhood, his parent's deaths, his hopes for the future, his dream of becoming a Doctor, his fears of what being Tuxedo Mask would mean for him. She remembered how he admitted to clamming up around people and promising to never let himself get close to another person ever again.

A confusing mirage, like a memory carousal on overdrive swirled around in Serena's mind, replaying images and scenes over and over and over and over again until she came to one conclusion.

"I'm missing something."

Luna raised her head. "What was that dear?"

"I feel like I'm missing something," Serena repeated, frowning at the ceiling. "There is now this feeling in my heart like I'm missing something. I feel... almost lonely." She turned her head to look down at her guardian in confusion. "But that can't be right. Am I still slightly affected or something?"

Her companion was silent for several beats. "I think it would be good for you to talk to Darien."

The blonde made a face. "What? Luna! I think it's best if we just avoid each other for a while. Let this whole thing blow over."

"It'll never fully blow over unless you talk about it," her guardian reasoned. "And I think you'll find that if you're feeling even half as lonely as Darien is right now, he could probably use someone to talk to too."

Serena closed her eyes, weighing up her options. On one hand, he could make fun of her for all the dumb things she had stupidly admitted to him in the duration of the week. But on the other hand, he could ignore her and be angry for letting slip of all the things he had said during the week. For some reason, the thought that he could possibly not want to talk to her made the hole in her chest feel bigger.

She pursed her lips and opened her eyes. "I'm going for a walk," she concluded. "I'll decide whether I want to talk to him or not when I'm ready."