DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Sailor Moon or anything in it but my own characters, Mooney and Outai. All credit goes to Nakao Takeuchi.

The final bell shook Usagi from her dark thoughts so suddenly that she jumped, and very nearly squeaked. A bare fingernail of control had kept her from doing that, especially since it might mean a lecture from the teacher after class. She didn't want another one of those. For that matter, it almost seemed like the teacher singled her out, though she knew for a fact that wasn't the case. It just felt like it some times.

What she had been thinking about was the events of a week ago, when Sailor Andromeda killed that tainted girl. She couldn't get the senshi's face out of her head, when she spun around, anger in her eyes, and the most intense pain she had ever seen before. Tears had been streaming down her face, and she didn't even notice it. The fact was, she hadn't wanted to do what she did, but for some reason she felt that she had to. Even worse, her quiet words before killing that poor girl rang through her mind.

"No," she had said in little more than a whisper. She knew the truth of the matter, even if Sailor Moon and her friends did not. "she is not. She is a vessel, now, and the vessel must not live."

The question in her mind was, a vessel for what? What was so bad about being a vessel that it meant she had to be killed? And why hadn't Andromeda's spell purified the taint in her? Was it getting stronger somehow?

Worry for the new senshi, on top of worry over the tainted souls that roamed and killed, kept her mind busy all day. She hadn't even had time to daydream of Mamoru, her beloved Mamoru. That in itself was a big thing.

Wrapped in her thoughts that she had somehow drifted into again, she mechanically made the motions of packing up her bag and leaving the classroom. She had hardly even noticed when Makoto and Ami called out her name as she passed them by.

"Oh, Ami, Mako-chan. Was Outai in class today?" she said. On top of her concerns for the senshi and for the tainted, she hadn't seen Outai in school for over a week now. She was worried about her friend, worried that she was not well.

"Yes," Ami said, but her eyes looked so sad, so confused - more confusion than sadness - that Usagi wanted to ask her what was wrong. However, Ami beat her to it. "She was in class today. Usagi, I don't think you want to see her right now."

"Why not? You guys just warmed up to her. Don't tell me you're going back now!"

"It's not like that, Usagi." Makoto said, and she realized her friend looked the same as Ami at the moment. "We're worried, too. But...something is different about her."

"Is she still sick?"

"No." Ami said, her blue-eyed gaze turning serious, "Not physically, anyway. Her eyes, though...Usagi, when I saw her today, it wasn't just sadness in her eyes. It was like looking at the eyes of death."

The last had been said with a shudder. The thought of it alone made her shudder, too. What had happened to her to make such a change? If anything, this made her worry more. Something terrible must have happened to make her eyes like that, where before they were just starting to lose some of their sadness.

"Let's go see her and cheer her up, then." Usagi said, putting on her best and most convincing smile, making her voice light. If they showed up with frowns on their faces, Outai would never cheer up!

Convincing her friends to catch up to Outai had been easy enough - Makoto and Ami were worried from seeing her, and as soon as they caught up to Minako and Rei and told them what was going on, they agreed that Outai needed some friends right now.

As they walked down the street, hoping to catch up to Outai - after picking up Chibiusa from her grade school - Usagi heard the sound of an engine revving behind them. She looked back to see Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna in Haruka's yellow sport car. Haruka, of course, was in the drivers seat wearing a yellow pants suit with a blue shirt and a cross around her neck, while Michiru sat in the front passenger seat in a pretty blue spring dress printed with flowers. Setsuna sat in the back, her long, dark hair down, except for a bun at the top of her head, dressed in a lavendar business suit with a narrow skirt.

"Usagi, care for a ride? It'll be kind of tight, but we can get everyone to fit." Haruka said, a friendly smile on her face.

"Hey, have you guys seen Outai?" she asked instead of answering, "We're trying to catch up to her."

Haruka and Michiru exchanged worried glances, and Setsuna seemed to be looking at them as if she had never seen them before. What was with those glances? Of course. They still felt uneasy about her. They didn't know her like she and her friends did.

"Usagi," Setsuna said, being the more sensible of the three, "is it wise to hang around that girl so much? The last I checked, she didn't seem to like you trying to force her to be friends."

"It's not like that, guys!" she wailed, "Outai is a good girl. She's really kind, even if she tries to hide it by pushing people away. Something isn't right, though, and we're worried. She was gone from school for a WEEK! Ami and Mako-chan say there's something wrong still."

"She gives off the same feeling as those tainted do." Haruka said. She had never been very good at putting things gently. "Maybe she is tainted, too."

"Then we must heal her." Usagi said. "Before it can do anything to her."

"Well," Michiru said, a mischievous sparkle in her eye. However, that sparkle always seemed to be there, "if anything it will mean one less tainted person to worry about. Hop in, girls. We'll find her."

Haruka almost glared at Michiru. Well, more than just almost. It was a look that promised retribution later - she had never liked anyone saying who could or could not enter her vehicle besides herself - but she didn't say anything.

Sure enough, there wasn't room for everyone to sit, at least not with a seat belt. Chibiusa ended up sitting on Setsuna's lap, sharing her seat belt, while Usagi sat in the middle, sharing a belt with Ami. Minako sat on the other side, behind Michiru, while Rei and Makoto sat on the trunk with the top lowered on the car itself.

Usagi had tried giving directions to Outai's apartment - they had been past it once, when she had decided to walk Usagi home since her apartment was on the way there - but after two wrong turns, Rei ended up giving the directions instead. It wasn't until they were nearly to the complex Outai lived in before they saw her walking down the street.

The first thing Usagi noticed was that she was wearing her winter uniform, with the long sleeved shirt, and a slightly longer skirt, when the rest were wearing their summer uniforms now that the weather was getting warm. She thought that odd, and on top of that she wore long stockings that covered her above the knees, or so she suspected. She could not see anything of her legs or arms. Why would she dress so warmly? Was she feeling cold? Did she have a fever?

"Hey, Outai!" Usagi called out, but Outai did not even acknowledge hearing her.

Haruka pulled up a distance ahead of Outai, and Usagi hopped out of the car as quickly as she could, considering she had to wait for Setsuna and Chibiusa to move, or for Minako and Ami. Once she was out of the car, though, she made a bee line for her raven haired, emerald eyed friend.

"Ouati-"

Usagi cut her own words off short. She hadn't really believed Ami when she said she had seen death in Outai's eyes, but now she saw it for true. It was as though her emerald eyes were the eyes of death, or as though she had given up on life. Nothing in them even said she knew that she was being spoken to. That is, not until Usagi gave her shoulders a gentle shake. She must have been deep in thought, though when snapped out of it, her eyes didn't change.

"Outai, are you okay?" Usagi asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"You were out of school for a week, and when you came back, Ami and Mako-chan said you looked...different. Outai, why do you look so sad? What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. I am fine."

"Then why are you wearing your winter uniform when it's near summer?" Michiru asked, and for the first time Usagi realized her friends were all behind her.

"And why are you wearing gloves?" chibiusa added in. When mentioned, Usagi saw that she did, indeed, have gloves on her hands, pitch black, and made of cotton.

"Because I choose to." she said simply. "If you'll excuse me, I need to get home."

"You know," Usagi could hear Haruka saying, and she sound agitated. Haruka agitated was kind of scary. "You're being rather rude. Your friends went out of their way to make sure you're okay, and all you can do is be cold to them? Did you grow up in a barn?"

"If I did, my nose would be in a pile of hay right now. I've already told them I don't want pity. If they know what is good for them, they will stay away from me. You, too, for that matter." she said coolly.

"Hey, what's gotten into you?" Rei said, and she sounded angry. For that matter, Rei angry was pretty scary too. "Usagi has been worried sick about you. We all have! What's with that attitude?"

"I never asked you to be worried about me." Outai said cooly, her eyes never changing. Why wouldn't they change? She didn't even sound angry. "What you do is up to you, and what I do is up to me."

Suddenly, Usagi realized there was someone behind Outai, a knife in their hand. It was a young man with blond hair and blue eyes, really rather handsome, but his eyes were full of malice. Before she could cry out and warn Outai, though, the girl suddenly thrust her elbow back just as the boy behind her raised the knife to stab her. Or rather, try to stab her. The elbow in his gut knocked the wind out of him, stunning him just enough to make him drop the knife. The next thing she knew, he was on the ground off to the side where he had been thrown, and Outai was coming after her, next.

Everything happened so quickly that Usagi didn't have time to react, nor did her friends. She could only wait for the pain of impact, her eyes squeezed shut so she wouldn't have to see her friend hitting her. However, the pain and impact did not come. Instead, she heard a grunt behind her, and suddenly she was being pulled off to the side, spun into the arms of Minako, who managed to catch her. Just as she was pulled aside, Outai was right where she had been, a sharp knee driven into the solar plexus of a young girl no older than ten with a baseball bat in her hand, several nails driven through it.

This was no place to fight. She and her friends had to transform, to purify those Outai had fought off. However, upon looking around, she saw something terrible. At least fifty tainted surrounded the whole group of her friends, Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, and Chibiusa included. There was no escaping the circle of mad men and women that surrounded them, oddly seeming to await orders, though barely. They seemed impatient to rip apart whatever they could, and it seemed they were waiting on something, or someone.

Suddenly, a Sailor soldier stepped out from the encircling crowd. All in shades of purple and white, with short black hair and a long staff with a wicked sword blade at the end, Eternal Sailor Saturn, her new transformation granted by Holy when the others had recieved theirs, though she had not been there at the time, broke through the crowd, her Glaive in hand.

Outai had been fighting off tainted men and women, when suddenly they seemed to jump back, forming a circle with quite a few other tainted. She had felt them drawing near, but her attempts to push the others away, to make them run, had failed. Usagi and her friends were just too stubborn for their own good, and now they were stuck with her. Worse, in this situation, she couldn't transform. She couldn't let them know she was Sailor Andromeda. She couldn't let them see her newly gained scars.

Just as she was beginning to wonder why they had pulled back, why they were waiting - a tainted person never waited. They only killed and destroyed - a young woman stepped out of the crowd. She wore purples and white, dressed as a Sailor Senshi, with a wicked looking glaive in her hands. The worst part was this senshi was tainted, and a vessel for the darkness within her soul. Strangely, though, her soul was intact, almost as though separated, locked away for safety. Maybe she wouldn't have to kill this senshi, but only if she acted fast and transformed, which she could not do.

"Moon Eternal Make Up!"

Usagi's voice broke through her thoughts, and she stared wide-eyed as light and feathers seemed to engulf the blond girl with the buns in her hair, turning her into none other than Sailor Moon.

"Mars Eternal Make up!"

"Mercury Eternal Make up!"

"Jupiter Eternal Make up!"

"Venus Eternal Make up!"

"Pluto Eternal Make up!"

"Uranus Eternal Make up!"

"Neptune Eternal Make up!"

"Mini Moon Eternal Make Up!"

Unable to speak, unable to move in her shock, Outai watched as the others transformed as well, surrounded in light and feathers, though in different colors, and she could swear some of the light, some of the transformation, was based around various elements, save for the two Sailor Moons. How could they be Sailor soldiers? Well, in some ways it made sense. They had the same sugar sweet ideals that could never be real.

When they finished transforming, Outai continued staring for a moment, before the tainted soldier broke through her thoughts.

"Sailor Moon," she said, "do you know who you are protecting? You are protecting a coward, and a murderer. Isn't that right, Aurora? Oh, that's right. You go by Outai now, don't you?"

Usagi's blue eyes turned on her, full of fear and worry. Well, there was work to be done, and now she didn't have to worry about being found out. This tainted soldier knew who she was, though by the sound of her voice - she could hear another voice echoed with the girl's natural voice, a voice full of malice and hatred, murder and destruction beyond anything she had seen or heard before - the taint had made her it's vessel, and was now using her body to talk. It was no longer the soldier talking, but the taint. With a resigned sigh, she pulled her transformation pen from her pocket.

"Andromeda Galaxy Power, Make Up!"

Though at the moment she could not see their faces, not with the light around her and the black ribbons wrapping around her, she knew they were gawking at her much the same way as she had at them during their transformations. As the pen stretched into her Moon Staff, she wasted no time. She quickly made three turns, bringing her staff up into the air.

"Galactic Halo!"

A dome of light surrounded them, protecting them from the tainted, should they suddenly decide to attack. However, the soldier with the wicked looking glaive somehow stepped through. She should not have been able to do that, and it left Outai in shock.

"Oh? It seems Holy gave you some power." the vessel of the darkness within said.

"Sailor Moon," she said, very much regretting what she was going to say, "I...don't have the power for this. I don't think I can heal so many at once, and this one in particular...She's a vessel now. It's not her speaking, but the taint, using her body. I can...sense her power, in a way. She's very dangerous."

"She's the senshi of Silence." Sailor Uranus said behind her, "She has the power to destroy a planet."

Outai almost whimpered. It wasn't the power she feared - though it was far too dangerous to leave any senshi tainted, this one worst of all because of what she could do - it was what she might have to do. She was so strong with the taint that she knew she couldn't heal it, and leaving her like that was too dangerous. She might have to kill again, and she might not survive that blow. Better to kill the vessel, than to have the vessel destroy the world though. But if there was another way...

"Sailor soldiers, you know what we face here. I cannot heal the taint in this one, and not healing it means it could make her destroy this world. She is the vessel now, nothing but a shell being used by the darkness within her. Sailor Moon won't be able to heal her either. Please...forgive me..."

Her arm suddenly felt like lead. She didn't want to raise it. She didn't want to kill again. But to save the world, she might have to. Standing with her side facing the tainted soldier, she managed to raise her arm, holding a ball of light in her palm. And suddenly Sailor Moon was in front of her, her arms raised to the sides as though to protect the senshi behind her. Didn't she know that was a good way to get killed?

"Stop, Andromeda! She's one of us!"

"Sailor Moon, she is a vessel of the taint. Do you know what this means? I thought I had said it already. The sailor soldier you know in that young woman is no more. What you see is her body, possessed by the taint, being used by the taint, and that includes her power. The taint wants nothing more than to destroy everything in the universe, and it will use her power to do it. Step aside, or we will all die."

"I can't let you." she said, and for a wonder, it wasn't fear in her eyes, but sorrow. "Those marks on your arms and legs, you did them, didn't you? Because you felt guilty about last time. You did something very wrong, but you feel so guilty about it that you hurt yourself. You couldn't survive that again."

"And if I don't, the whole world will die. Better me than everyone."

"There must be another way! She can be healed. Hotaru - Sailor Saturn - must still be in there somewhere."

"How do you know?" Outai said, shocked. Could this girl feel the taint in others as well? Could she feel the tainted soldier's soul, partitioned off and locked away untouched?

"Sailor Saturn has been possessed before, by another entity. Maybe this time it is the same."

"It is, but neither of us have the power to heal her."

"That's right," Sailor Saturn said. "You're all too weak to take me. I thought you had noticed this by now. I was going to kill you all right away, but first I want to tell you a story. It's a story about our dear Outai - or perhaps I should say Sailor Andromeda.

Let's see, how do these things begin again? Oh, yes. Once upon a time, there was a world filled with peace and happiness, a world filled with beings who could manipulate the elements, the energies, even the psyches to their will. But because of a power they all worshiped, the power of Holy, their own powers were never used for ill. It was sickening, really.

The high priest and high priestess - the two strongest in the land, closest to this Holy power, most able to wield it - bore a child who surpassed even them in only her first year of life. Holy had said she would be born to save the world from destruction, and she was.

However, one day I came to that planet. Anyone who got near me felt my touch and was filled with blissful insanity. In the last moments before destruction, she and her guardian ran, seeking safety while the rest of her world died.

But this little priestess - or as her guardian calls her, the little princess - was touched by my blissful taint. She never knew it until her guardian finally met up with her, giving her the Holy crystal from her planet, along with his memories of what had happened to their home. It was the Holy crystal that sealed away the taint inside her so it could not spread or take her over. Sealed away, but never healed. I wonder why that is? Maybe the taint is too strong in her, too."

Outai could feel everyone's eyes on her. So. It knew her history better than she did. So. It knew the prophecy. It stood to reason it would know of her own taint, sealed away inside her. What was it trying to do, aside from trying to turn everyone against her?

"Andromeda...this isn't true, is it?" she could hear Usagi asking.

"It is." she said with a simple nod of her head. "Except that the taint inside me is sealed, not healed, because if it had been healed, then I would be nothing more than a vegetable. Worse, I'd be the vessel instead of this other senshi."

"And that taint on her soul is what drew me here." the tainted senshi said. "It's been a beacon in the night for me. You've done well guiding me, Sailor Andromeda."

She...brought it here? Sure, she knew it drew other tainted towards her, but...she had lead it to Earth? That was something else to add to her list of sins. That list was getting pretty damn long now. No matter that she was less than a year old when she came here. No matter she was too young to train or know what was going on. It was still her fault that her home world died, and her fault that the taint had come here to Earth.

"Sailor Moon," she said quietly, "if you really insist on saving her, lend me your powers. It might be enough. Please."

For some reason, the girl did not argue. Instead, she nodded her head, her face full of grim determination now, as she took up her locket.

"Silver Moon Crystal Eternal Power!"

White light exploded from the locket, full of purity and power. She drank it all in, focusing it with her own power into her staff. Strangely, more than just the lantern glowed this time. The whole staff seemed to quiver with the power as she brought it out in front of her and began to spin. As she did so, the whole staff left a wide streak of light in it's wake. More surprising was that the light, instead of forming a bubble of light around her, almost like her dome shield, molded to her body, and began changing. Instead of her senshi uniform, she was now dressed in light that faded now into a shimmering gown of white silk, without sleeves. The bust was bunched together in the middle with a crescent moon and star between her bosoms, and the full skirts reached the ground and trailed behind some. White gloves came to her elbows, and, oddly, a pair of silky white wings sprouted from her back. What was this?

"Gates of Heaven!"

Light exploded around them, brighter than ever before, covering a larger area than ever before. Sure, the pattern was the same, but even she noticed that it was far larger, far more powerful than ever. Was this Sailor Moon's power? And without the aide of her friends at that!

Outai had been worried it might not have been enough, but when the crowd of tainted collapsed - Sailor Saturn with them - she heaved a sigh of relief, and very near a whimper. She did not have to kill anyone today. As the new found power left her, her white gown dimming back into her senshi uniform, she sank to her knees, both from relief and exhaustion. That was a lot of power to hold and use.

"You BROUGHT it here?" an angry voice came from behind. Suddenly she saw herself flanked by Sailors Neptune and Uranus.

"I don't think she did it consciously." Sailor Mercury spoke up. "But we do need the full story, Andromeda."

"I'll tell it." came a warm, husky voice.

Suddenly a little black cat with a golden moon and star on it's forehead was walking down the street. It's bright blue eyes seemed sad for some reason. She would ask Mooney later why he was so sad. For now, the cat rested on it's haunches in the middle of the gathering of Sailor senshi.

"Please, don't blame Andromeda. When the taint came, when it destroyed our planet and tainted the little princess, she was less than a year old. She wasn't old enough to know what was going on, much less old enough to train her. In spite of that, though, she blames herself for the death of her parents, of our world."

"That's no excuse for her!" Mars said, clearly enraged. "She killed someone! She's been rude to us this whole time! I can't believe she made us like her!"

"That has explanation, too." Mooney said, "She was trying to push you all away so you wouldn't fight this war. She's paid a heavy price for every person she's healed, and she doesn't want you guys paying that price. I've seen it bring her down.

You wouldn't believe it, but aside from being better at school, Outai used to be like Usagi, cheerful and outgoing. She changed when I came and showed her my memories, telling her what happened. She has changed even more since then, every time she's healed someone and they were nothing but a vegetable for it.

Yes, she did kill someone. There's no justifying it, and there's no covering it up. However, she really did have no other choice. That person had become a vessel, something for the taint to use as a body, because it has no body of it's own. Had she left that girl alive, she would have done far more damage, spread the taint far faster and more powerfully, than anything else you've ever dealt with. It would have meant the destruction of Earth, and she has sworn to protect this planet, no matter what the cost to herself is.

There's something else I think you all should know. I know she doesn't want me to tell you this, but we don't have any other choice. She needs your help. The taint is getting stronger, and it's getting so even her power isn't enough to heal it. Please, will you help her?"

"Mooney," she said coldly, enraged at his speech, though she did little to stop it. "that's quite enough. I don't want their help. I can do it myself."

"No, Outai, you can't. You won't ask, so I'm asking for you, and this time you're going to take it, damn you!"

Outai glared at her guardian cat. He never spoke to her like this before, never showed so much open outrage. He was far too laid back for any of that. Unfortunately, she didn't really have any say in the matter, now that Mooney had taken over. Besides, her power was no longer enough, and she was forced to admit, however reluctantly, that she really did need their help. She didn't have to like it, though.

"I think that is up to them." she said, nodding towards Sailor Moon and her friends, not willing just yet to admit she had lost. Besides, it really was their decision now, not hers.

"Why should we help a murderer?" she could hear Makoto saying. "A rude one at that!"

"Because the fate of the planet depends on her power, and her power isn't enough. She will need your power to do what needs to be done: to get rid of the taint once and for all." Mooney said.

"Mooney," Usagi said, "you showed her your memories, right? Will you show us?"

Mooney hesitated. He never said it, and never really showed it, but she could tell he regretted showing her his memories, because of what it had done. Well, she still felt guilt for the destruction of their home, but that was not his fault. She deserved to know, especially if she was going to weild the power of Holy. She had told him as much before, but she supposed he was being stubborn about it. Just like she was, she thought to herself ironically.

"It's okay," she told her little feline friend, "they didn't go what we went through, but they've had their own experiences to strengthen them. They can handle it. You won't hurt them with it."

Strangely, he seemed to nod. It wasn't the nod that told her she was right, but more like he had been waiting for her permission and was thanking her for it. Why would he need her permission?

"You all might want to sit down." she said, and it wasn't so that they could be closer to eye-level with Mooney. That wasn't even needed. It was better to sit down, than to fall down.

Sailor Moon, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, oddly, all sat. The rest remained standing, prepared for the worst. She supposed they didn't trust her, and she was fine with that. If they didn't trust her, they couldn't get close to her, and if they didn't get close, they couldn't get hurt. Well, not much anyway.

Seeing that no one else was going to follow her advice, Mooney's blue eyes began glowing. Suddenly, the world around them seemed to...fade. Sounds became dimmer, colors faded away like a shirt too many times washed with bleach. Even smells faded away. As the world faded, a new world seemed to take it's place at the same time.

They were surrounded by a grassy meadow, dotted with wildflowers of various shapes, colors and sizes. The air smelled fresh and sweet, a pleasant change from the smell of cars and people. The sky was blue and clear, the air pleasantly warm. A soft breeze brushed through their hair, whispering in their ears softly. This was one part of the memory she enjoyed the most. It was peaceful, quiet, happy, beautiful.

In the center of this meadow was a huge stone platform, protected from the elements by a stone ceiling supported by stone columns carved in vines and flowers. Under this roof were rows of wooden benches, covered in colorful cushions embroidered in flowers and vines, birds and fish and animals. In the very center of this place was a stone pillar that came about chest high on some of the senshi, and on top of that was a glowing white crystal. A sense of peace and warmth emanated from this crystal, filling them. She could see some of them beginning to smile, though whether from the beauty or from the crystal she could not say.

Today those benches were filled with people of all sizes, skin tones, and hair colors. They were all humanoid, or almost. Some had the ears of a cat or a dog, and some had vaguely serpentine or bird-like features, but some humans were like that, too. Each and every person was facing the center of this covered area, facing the glowing stone. In front of it, though, were a man and woman standing face to face, both smiling. Both had raven black hair, both were dressed in blue and white robes, though the woman had brilliant blue eyes and the man had emerald green eyes. Somehow, all knew that, by those robes, they were not only high priest and priestess for the Ice nation, but over all priests and priestesses. Somehow they knew these were the strongest in the world, the most able to tap into the power of Holy.

The man and woman were speaking to each other, but it was in a language none of them recognized. When they were done, they embraced each other in a long and loving kiss, and the crowd around them cheered. It must have been a wedding ceremony.

The scene flashed, and though not much changed - there were a few wispy clouds in the sky, and the day was warmer now - they could tell some time had passed. The man and woman looked a little older now - only by a year or two, really - and the woman was holding a babe in her arms, with beautiful black hair and emerald green eyes, wrapped in a soft blue blanket. A young man approached them, his hair black as well, and his eyes as blue as the sky above them, wearing a black breast plate with lines of silver curling like vines all over it. He had black ears and a black tail like a cat, and a golden knot dangled across his chest, and beneath the breast plate was a deep blue coat and pants that seemed to set off his eyes. He wore a sword at his side as though he could use it, but he really did not seem ready to use it. He did not like the idea of it.

As the young man approached - smiling from ear to ear - he spoke with the woman for a moment, before presenting a small stuffed cat, black with golden eyes, to the babe, who cooed in delight at the gift, greedily taking it into her little arms and holding it close. The mother, father, and young man laughed in delight, before the young man spoke to the father of the child. It seemed he was making a report.

The scene flashed again.

The child had grown some, and was now resting in a pack on her mother's back as her mother prayed to the glowing crystal. It seemed a daily ritual for the woman. Suddenly, the ground shook beneath them, and a flash of light blinded them. A grim expression they had never expected to see in such a happy world filled their faces. They knew what had come, and the surprise in their eyes said it had come unexpectedly.

Another flash.

Chaos surrounded them. People were attacking people, some with the murderous rage of the tainted in their eyes, some trying to defend themselves. A young man with fiery red hair and blue-gray eyes fell to a young woman with flaxen hair holding a sword that she had made spring up out of the ground. A young woman with medium brown hair and eyes fell in flames shot from the hand of a young man with hair so fair it was nearly white, and eyes that were nearly red. In the middle of it all was the young man from earlier, with black cat ears and a cat's tail, still in his breast plate. He was using his sword to defend himself against a woman with sun-golden hair and azure eyes. She was a beautiful young woman, a rose ready to bloom in a moment. Somehow they knew this young woman was the young man's lover, and fiance. Her eyes were full of hatred and murder now, and she fought with her own sword, pulled from the ground as well.

The young man brought his sword up and across, trying to push her back, trying not to kill her, and in that instant a moment of sanity washed over her. In that moment she ceased movement and stepped forward. His sword separated her head from her shoulders. A look of horror came over the young man as he dropped to his knees, catching her falling body, holding it close to his own. After a moment, the most heart wrenching wail escaped his throat.

Another flash.

The woman from earlier was running, trying to escape her husband. With her was the young man, anguish fresh in his eyes, and grim determination. He held the glowing crystal in his hands as though holding a raw egg, trying to keep it from breaking. The aura of darkness and hate warred with the woman's own pure aura, fighting for control as she held her baby close, who was now screaming and crying with fear. They came to a building, and the senshi followed as they ran inside, running down faintly glowing hallways lit by seemingly nothing, through corridors, and finally into a room full of bullet-shaped pods. The young man jumped into one, tears streaming down his face now as he turned to face the woman from his pod. The door closed in front of him, sealing him off from the woman. At the same time, the woman placed her babe in another pod, and that's when the darkness took over.

As the door to the babe's pod slowly closed, she attacked the pod, beating it with her fists as a guttural growl escaped her throat. She was no longer even human. She tried to pry the door open with her fingers, not even registering that a certain button had to be pushed, not even intelligent of that fact. However, as the beating with her fists continued, whether by a final moment of sanity or by sheer luck, her fist came down on a button on a nearby control panel. Fire shot out of the bottom of the bullet shaped pods, fire and smoke that spread out, catching the woman on fire. She didn't even seem to care. She continued to beat on the pods as they began to lift from the ground, sending them through the open ceiling.

Another flash.

The pod had crashed some place, sending a jolt through the young man, still clutching the glowing crystal. He pressed a few buttons on a pad in front of him, and they could see a three dimensional image of a planet, their planet, with writing they could not read next to it. A voice came from the pod, speaking to the young man in that language they could not understand, and suddenly the young man looked frightened. He beat at the pod, trying to get out, but was not able to. Finally, he took his sword and pried the door open in just enough time to see someone walk away from the babe's pod, carrying the babe away.

Another flash.

The babe had grown into a young girl of maybe ten. Her black hair had grown long enough to wear in a long, complex braid with bright green clips in it that matched her emerald e yes. She was on her way to school, talking to two other girls her age, one with brown hair and blue eyes, the other with black hair and brown eyes. They were laughing as they walked, happy to be alive, but the girl with the emerald eyes had an aura of darkness warring with light. They knew, somehow, that the little girl had been given that glowing crystal, and it now rested inside her body, sealing away the darkness her true birth mother had given her before their world was destroyed.

Flash.

The girl was in junior high, now. She was talking with her friends, when she saw a young woman walking down the street, her shoulders slumped and dejected. She ran up to the young woman.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Why do you care? No one else does. You don't even know me."

"Well, we can fix that! Come on, I got my allowance today, and I'll treat you to ice cream."

Flash.

A small black cat with a crescent moon and star on it's forehead approached the young woman - now in her second year of high school - and it knew who, and what, she was. It's little blue eyes glowed, and after what seemed like an eternity, she looked down at the little black cat, her emerald eyes filled with horror. She slumped to her knees and screamed at the top of her lungs, covering her own ears. She knew what she was now, but she didn't want to believe it.

Flash.

A bright flash of light lit an abandoned alley, occupied only by a few garbage cans, a stray cat or two, and now the body of a young boy. He appeared only to be in his mid-teens, with raven black hair, and what one would suppose to be nearly black eyes that would melt most girls' knees. Or rather, they had been. Now they stared up at the sky, completely blank and devoid of life. There was no injury on him that anyone could see, and he was breathing, but that was the only sign of life to him.

Forest green eyes stared at the boy for a moment, and if one looked closely, one might think that regret had flashed in them. An errant breeze blew a few strands of ebony hair into a pale face that contained those forest green eyes, and was quickly pushed behind an ear with a white gloved hand. Green eyes closed in a quick prayer for the boy's soul, before black boots laced in gold turned and walked away, leaving the boy to be found by whoever happened to wander by. She couldn't risk detection, not yet.

The slide show of memories finally came to an end, and the Sailor senshi all stared at Andromeda, who was now staring at the ground. Of all those memories, she hated everything after that earthquake and explosion of light. Everything, except the memories of her child hood. She vaguely remembered being a happy child.

"You know," she could hear Haruka saying, "she's not much different than we were, Neptune. Her resolve is the same."

"Yes, so we can't blame her now, can we? That would make us hypocrites." she heard from Michiru.

"Outai..." Usagi said, and she could hear the pain and compassion in her voice. It made her want to cry. She hated that.

"You're still blaming yourself?" she heard from Rei, who sounded quite angry now, "For THAT? You KNOW you didn't have any control over that! You know you couldn't do anything, so stop blaming yourself. You're a Sailor soldier, whether we like it or not, and soldiers are made of tougher stuff than that."

"Yeah!" Makoto agreed, "We all have the same goal - to protect this planet and our princess, and we all know that none of us can go it alone. We need help from everyone, so get over yourself!"

"We don't like what you did," Ami said, sounding much more composed than the others, if a touch breathless, "but you are still a Sailor soldier, just like us. Killing yourself won't bring back the one you killed, nor will it bring back those lost to the taint. Let us help."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. A moment ago they were ready to condemn her, and just from seeing Mooney's memories they were now ready to help her. What kind of people were they?

"Mooney, I think they know what you are, now. You don't have to hide in front of them." she said.

Nodding in agreement, Mooney began to...grow. His small black form stretched and grew into the form of the young man from the memories, with black hair and blue eyes, cats ears and a cats tail, wearing a white t-shirt and jeans that were several sizes too big for him. Strangely, he was barefoot.

"Outai, if I EVER catch you hurting yourself again, I'll kick your ass!" he said angrily.

"You'll have to wait in line for that, cat." Haruka said with a smirk.

Strangely, Setsuna, Sailor Pluto, walked up to her and crouched down so that she was eye level with Outai. Her dark eyes peered into her own emerald green eyes, as if staring directly into her soul.

"The past cannot be undone, I know this far better than anyone, as the senshi of Time. You cannot undo what has been done, but you can keep it from happening again. Focusing on the past is a waste of time and energy, so use that time and energy to focus on the future."

Outai blinked in surprise. Well, what she said did make sense, but she still couldn't get rid of her guilt.

"You cannot make amends, dwelling in the past," Setsuna continued, before she could say anything, "so stay in the present and make amends here and now. You cannot do that, dead."

Outai surprised herself by nodding slowly. She knew all of this, deep down inside she knew it, but she couldn't bring herself to accept it. She couldn't bring herself to stop feeling guilty, because she thought that, if she did, her parents, Mooney's lover, their whole world's death would be in vain. Some how, for some reason, she thought that keeping that guilt keen might absolve her, but all it had done was bring her down. She really hadn't had any say in the matter, just like her own birth. She couldn't have done anything, so maybe she really wasn't to blame.

"Th-thank...you..." she said quietly. "Maybe...you are right."

"Of course I am. I am the senshi of Time."

"Besides that," she heard Minako saying, "it's pretty stupid to blame yourself for something you had no control over. It's like blaming yourself for being born to a prostitute or something."

"Boy, am I an idiot." she said with a wry, mirthless chuckle.

"Yes, you are," Mooney said, but a grin was spreading across his face. "But you're MY idiot."

"No," Usagi said, and Outai suddenly found herself being hugged by this blond haired crybaby of a...friend, "she's OUR idiot."

Author's note: DA FUQ? A HAPPY ending? What's getting into me? And the sailor soldiers reveal themselves! And Outai is snapping out of it! Or...is she? You'll have to keep reading to find out.

Holy shit! This chapter was over seven thousand words! I've been averaging four thousand! Well, a lot happened in this one, as I knew it would. Hope you enjoyed it! Leave me lovely comments!