An hour later Rei joined Usagi on the porch. The blonde hadn't moved from her position in the moonlight.

"Are we really ready?" the miko murmured. "Can we win this?"

The blonde lowered her eyes. "I don't know," she replied. "I think so, but there are so many factors and possibilities to consider. I don't know what kind of strength they have, if they know we're coming, nothing, and I don't like going in blindly."

"You don't think we'll all make it. You're worried some of us are going to die."

She finally turned, tears welling up in her gorgeous blue eyes. "Yes," she admitted. "I'm absolutely terrified, for all of you. With the additional powers you've received, you're more powerful, but they also have Mamo-chan and that gives them a lot of power over the planet, even without his Sailor Crystal."

"Sailor Crystal?"

"The source of power for any planet or such that has a guardian. Typically, they're female- Senshi- but Earth's guardian is generally a man, and always a member of the royal family. He's all that's left, so he's the only heir until we have our child, even if the girl was more Moon than Earth. At the moment, I can only be grateful he doesn't have it. The Golden Crystal was never very strong against mental persuasion."

"He can turn the planet against us?"

"Possibly," Usagi frowned. "It depends on how much strength he has now. I can't reach him well enough to say."

"How is he?" Rei asked cautiously.

"The link is polluted, so it's hard to answer… When I reach out to him, I hit a pulsing, burning darkness, the sort that's like poison to me. There's only the smallest possible remaining fleck of gold."

"Can we save him?"

Usagi considered, feeling her way toward him again. "If that fleck remains, yes, but it'll be hard. If even that goes though, there's no way."

"Oh, Usagi," Rei whispered. "I hate to ask this, but I have to: what do we do if we can't pull him back?"

"I don't know," she managed around the tight lump in her throat. "I can't hurt him, Rei-chan. I can't, even knowing he'd rather die than remain their puppet."

The fiery priestess embraced her friend as the tears came. "If it comes to that, one of us will do it. We won't put it on you, Usagi-chan, not after you spent so much time trying to protect us from the same thing."

"I think I'm the one that has to face him though," the Moon Senshi muttered. "I have to be the one that saves him or… or ends him, if I have to." She pulled away, moving back to the railing.

"Usagi…" Rei sighed and shook her head. "I'm going back to the others. You come inside."

The petite blonde never replied. She had picked a rose, the Senshi of Fire realized, and was running her fingers gently over the petals as she stared at her ancient home. With one final drawn out sigh, the miko brushed her raven-colored hair from her face and slipped into Mamoru's kitchen.

"Firebrand?" Jadeite called, stepping in. "I thought I saw you. How is she?"

"Worried, of course," she answered briskly as she rummaged through the cupboards. "She and Minako know something they're not sharing, but I imagine they're doing what they think is best."

"What are you looking for?"

"A candle. I can't go back to the temple tonight, but I need to meditate. Any flame will do in a pinch."

"Ah." Jadeite nodded as she finally found one. "Is there anything you're looking for in particular?"

"Aren't you Mr. 100 Questions tonight?" she snapped without thinking then cursed softly. "I'm sorry; that was rude of me. I want to know more about tomorrow. Outcome if possible, but that's about as specific as I can get."

"Do you need some help?" he offered. "My Mars and I can typically work together to improve the quality and clarity of the visions. I'm a conduit, so I won't be able to see it, but what you see will be more helpful. You won't have to share if you don't want to."

She hesitated. "I'll need to give it my full attention, since it isn't the sacred fire," she warned.

"Of course."

"Fine," Rei muttered crossly. "We'll just kick Kunz out of his hidey hole so we can have some privacy."

"Kunz?" Jadeite repeated amusedly.

"What?" she asked. "I couldn't keep calling both of them the same thing, and I respect yours too much to give him a nickname."

"Hey, calm down, I understood," he replied, raising both hands in a gesture of surrender. "It was just funny."

She smiled faintly. "Whatever. Let's go do this."

88888888

An irritated Kunzite stood in the corner after being chased out of his room. Normally, two or more of the others would have occupied the room as well, but the other Shitennou had all decided to sleep in the living room rather than share it unless the Senshi were staying over as well. In all actuality, though, it was their Kunzite and Zoisite that didn't want to, and Jadeite and Nephrite had automatically joined them. Motoki stayed with him occasionally, but that was it.

He drank quietly from a glass of punch Minako had forced on him before he had made his escape, contemplating Usagi's earlier words.

"It is hard to believe she is going to do this," he murmured, watching her as subtly as possible. "She is so young, and it is so soon."

He proceeded to enter into an internal debate concerning whether or not to make amends between the two of them for the millionth time. For the first time, the side that advocated a reunion managed to take an advantage, and it shoved him into action before the rest could argue.

He caught her hand as she dashed by, and her eyes locked onto his. "Might I have a word, Lady Venus?"

"Actually," a cold voice interjected, "I would like a moment of your time first, if you do not mind."

Kunzite looked up to meet his doppelganger's eyes and reluctantly nodded. "I shall be right back," he told her. "We need to talk."

"All right," she said with a sweet smile. "I'll still be out here when you get back. Usagi hasn't come in, so her room is open."

He nodded again and strode across the room as the other followed. As soon as they were both in, the younger one shut the door.

"You have to stop hurting her," he stated bluntly. "She is dying inside from how poorly you have treated her after she fought so hard to save you."

"Do you think I do not see that?" Kunz snapped. "I thought she would be safer if I stayed away from her. I will not risk her again."

"You do still love her then." Kunzite commented. "I had wondered. She has wept more tears since your return than I have seen the entire time I have been here. You are breaking her heart all over again every time you push her away."

"So instead I should allow her to get closer so it will hurt worse when it happens again?"

"I do not think it will. You have learned, or I hope you have. You would not do that to her any more than you would pull out a sword and kill her right now."

Kunz sighed, running a hand over his face in one of his rare displays of emotion. "I had just convinced myself to apologize and make amends when you intercepted me. I know that what you and the princess have said is true, but it does not end the fear."

"As well it should not," Kunzite growled. "You failed in one of the most important things. She died at your hands. If you did not fear, you would have no place near her."

"I know that! I know. I just want her safe, even if it means keeping her as far from me as is possible."

"Keeping her away will not stop her, and well you know it. She would come after you again and again, until she was too hurt to bear. Make your amends, if that is the path you have chosen, but I am warning you: If you keep hurting her, it will not matter if I am dead or returned to my time. I will find a way to come back, and I will make you suffer for every tear or drop of blood that fell because of you."

"Fair enough," Kunz said coldly. "I doubt you will believe me but I do love her, possibly more than I did during the Silver Millennium. I do not want her to be hurt again either."

For the first time, his past self seemed to relax. "Then you have my best wishes. Make her smile."

88888888

Minako paced the balcony behind Usagi, who had refused to move inside and get some rest before the big fight.

"The two Kunzites are talking," the Senshi of Love informed her leader. "I think they may be trying to work out their differences."

"I'd be more impressed if you were working yours out," the other teen commented. "This has already gone on long enough, and we're going tomorrow. The two of you need to settle things. I've already told him, but I don't know if he'll listen."

"He might," Minako admitted. "Before the other one said he needed a moment, mine said he wanted to talk to me. Maybe he's ready to listen after all."

"For your sake, I hope so," Usagi smiled. "I think I may get some sleep after all, now that the moon is lined up with the window. I need it tonight."

"Of course," her friend grinned. "You have to soak up those moonbeams, after all. Get all the power you can. Tomorrow will be rough."

"The Kunzites have come out," the pigtailed blonde observed. "It's time for your chat. I'm going to bed."

Minako nodded as the other girl walked off, stopping on the way to tell Kunzite she was on the balcony. He glanced her way, and she waved slightly. He returned the gesture before courteously escorting Usagi to her room. Once she had vanished, he turned to her again, striding out at a brisk pace.

"Is there anywhere we can speak privately?" he asked cautiously, with a glance at the large bunch of people inside.

"Just shut the door and we'll be fine," she replied easily, taking Usagi's position at the side.

He did, moving to stand next to her. He placed one hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him in surprise.

"I am sorry, Venus," he began. "I have been unfair to both of us these past several days. I should not have treated you so poorly."

She began to smile softly. "You don't have to be so formal with me, Kunzite," she admonished. "And you don't have to use my title. Goodness knows I only just convinced the other you of the same thing before we saved you."

"…Minako…"

"Much better," she said. "You don't have to apologize. Really. I already know why you were behaving like that. Sometimes I think you forget I have all of my memories. I know you, just as well as you know yourself."

"I was unnecessarily cold, and you did save me," he managed. "I did not want to hurt you again."

She carefully framed his face with her hands after jumping up to sit on the railing. "Kunzite," she started, "I don't care what happened. I care about what is, and what will be. The past is over. I want the future. I love you; I always did."

"I know you do," he said, laying one hand over hers, "but I want to protect you, even from myself. I cannot be near you after what I did."

She shook her head. "You can. I won't let you leave me alone again. I've waited a long time to be with you. Your… misplaced guilt isn't something I'll allow you to slip away for. If you avoid me, you'll never come to terms with the past and be able to move on. We both have to heal, and we'll do that best if we're together."

He hesitated before speaking again. "I loved you in our past. I barely know you now, but I love you regardless. I do not want to be the cause of your pain any longer. You may consider the guilt misplaced, but I should never have done those things."

She leaned her forehead against his. "Maybe not, but it can't be changed. Maybe our actions now will save the Kunzite talking so normally with Motoki-san from the same fate. Our pasts made us who we are now. I wouldn't be the same person if those things hadn't occurred. For good or bad, it happened. Now that you're back, it doesn't matter."

"But it does-"

"It doesn't. You regret it. That's enough. I know Usagi said this earlier, but don't let your past consume you." She kissed him, slowly and softly. "We can heal together. Don't let me go tomorrow with unhappy thoughts, Kunzite. I don't want to argue. If we win, we'll have all the time in the world."

He sighed. There was no way to convince her otherwise, not with the mood she was in. She wrapped her arms around him, curling into his heat. His went up automatically, encircling her waist to keep her from falling.

"I would do anything for you, you know," he murmured as one hand went up to stroke her hair. "For your own good, whether you wanted it or not."

"I know you would," she replied calmly. "Or you would try. You won't pull off this one. Now that I've got you back, you're stuck with me."

This time, he initiated the kiss. It was hard, almost desperate, but she responded all the same. "You will come back?" he asked, his voice breaking in the middle. "Do not die on me, not now that you are making progress on my stupidity."

"I can't make any promises, Kunzite. You know that. No warrior can when going into a battle. I can only say I'll do my best. You'll know if anything happens." She shifted closer. "That's enough for tonight. I don't really want to think about it. The sun will bring what it chooses, but for now, I just want to spend time with you."

88888888

Rei watched the sun rising. Even with Jadeite's assistance, it had taken hours to draw the visions. Neither had slept much.

"Are you really going to be okay, firebrand?" he asked behind her. "You look exhausted."

She turned her head in his direction, noticing he barely seemed rumpled. "You don't."

"One of the advantages of working with Kunzite. You have to be used to working till all hours and be able to go at a moment's notice." Jadeite studied her. "She won't make you go if you don't think you can."

"No, I'm going. I think you already knew that."

"Naturally," he sighed. "You're too stubborn for your own good. You're going to have to be careful."

"I'd say the same goes for you," the miko countered. "You have someone to go home to. This could kill all of us."

"It's possible. Then again, it is with any battle. I trust Usagi-chan, Rei. If anyone can pull it off, she can."

"But at what cost? She's worried that she'll be forced to fight Mamoru-san, maybe kill him. If she makes it out alive, will she stay that way? She chose death before."

He shook his head. "We don't have the answers. All we can do is our best, to protect her and everyone else we care about."

88888888

Usagi watched them together for a moment, from the window in her bedroom. She turned to face the room.

There were still signs of Mamoru around, things she had been unable to put away. The vase of roses on his nightstand had been cared for religiously, and his pillow still carried his scent. She ran her hand over one of the flowers.

"We're coming, Mamo-chan," she murmured. "I want to be able to save you. I don't know what to do otherwise."

She straightened up and took her broach from the nightstand, placing it carefully in her pocket.

"Here we go, I guess."

88888888

"Is there any way to convince you to stay, Minako?" Kunzite asked softly. "You do not have to risk yourself."

"I swore I would always defend her," the blonde replied. "Now isn't the time to turn back, even if she offers. She will, knowing her, but I think we'll follow her regardless."

"I should be coming with you," he frowned. "I know the area and more of what to expect than the rest of you."

"You already know why you can't," she chided. "You've told us what you know, and we need the full compliment of Shitennou. You can't both come."

"I know," he sighed, "but I am worried."

"We all are."

88888888

"They are all talking right now," Zoisite commented. "Kunz and Minako-san have made up, and Rei-san and Jadeite actually get along. Nephrite is probably talking to Makoto-san too."

"And Usagi-chan is all alone," Ami said. "She wouldn't even let Motoki-san in. She only said she'd come out when it was time."

"Motoki-san has his own goodbyes to say, and she knows that. She would not risk parting him from his family without giving him that chance."

"She hasn't," the genius girl countered. "She hasn't said even a word to her family to give a sense of saying goodbye."

"It is difficult for her. She has the most family to lose. I think she would rather leave them with the memories of her as she was."

"I guess so. Are you scared, Zoisite?"

"Somewhat," he admitted. "I know you are. You were in the kitchen in the middle of the night."

"I couldn't sleep. There's too much to think about. Yes, I suppose I am scared."

"We will be all right," he assured her. "Even if something happens to us, we will find a way to win this."

"Even at the cost of our lives."

88888888

Makoto had gone for a run before even the beginnings of the sunrise, too wired to sit still. By the time dawn came, she had already run around the park four times. At the moment, she was perched on a bench, guzzling a bottle of water. She knew he was there before he said anything.

"A storm's coming," she observed.

"You would know," Nephrite agreed, taking a seat next to her. "Are you ready for it?"

"As much as I can be," she shrugged. "I don't have anyone to say goodbye to. Everyone I care about is going with us."

"I don't really have anyone in this time to say goodbye to either. Kunzite-sama hasn't moved since he woke up. He just stared out the window."

"Toward Venus, probably. He must miss her- his Venus, I mean."

"We all do, in our own ways. It's difficult knowing we may never see them again."

"You will. If something happens, you'll all be reincarnated and given another chance. That's what Usagi-chan said when she was talking to your Kunzite."

"I think she's right, but there's no guarantee in these things. We have no choice but to weather the storm."

"Maybe it's time to go then," Makoto decided. "Let's go to the shrine. The others will be along shortly."

88888888

Motoki sighed as he closed the door to his parents' house. It had been difficult seeing them without explaining, but there had been no choice, even though Usagi had told him he didn't have to come.

"Onii-san?"

He turned. "Unazuki-chan? Is something wrong?"

"I don't know. What's going on that you didn't tell us?" his sister asked, stepping onto the porch.

"I can't explain," he muttered. "You wouldn't believe me even if I could."

"You're saying goodbye, though."

He nodded a little. "I guess so. I'm sorry. I would tell you if I could."

"It's all right," she responded. "Just… make sure you come back. You will, won't you?"

"Honestly?" He frowned. "I don't know. I just know I have to go. I'll come back if I can."

She nodded, putting on a brave face. "If you have to, you should. Good luck, onii-san."

"Thanks," he said with a smile. "Goodbye."

88888888

It was a solemn group that assembled on the steps of Hikawa Shrine. Everyone seemed preoccupied even as Luna and Artemis approached. Kunzite and Minako had stepped to the side talking as her Kunzite watched her. Motoki tried to get Usagi to talk, but she just shook her head. Finally, she stood up.

"It's time to go," she announced.

"It's now or never," Rei agreed.

"We have to save our world," Ami nodded.

"No matter what it takes," Makoto added.

"It's our job," Minako concluded firmly.

The Shitennou bowed their heads in agreement.

"Is everyone ready?" Motoki asked. He glanced at Usagi as they voiced their assent.

She took point. "Everyone, henshin."

"MERCURY STAR POWER!"

"MARS STAR POWER!"

"JUPITER STAR POWER!"

"VENUS STAR POWER!"

"MOON PRISM POWER!"

"MAKE-UP!" they finished together, letting the magic flow. The Shitennou transformed silently, and Motoki changed as Sailor Moon finished hers.

The blonde heroine scooped up her cat. "Luna, you'll be all right here?" she asked.

"We'll be fine, Sailor Moon," Luna reassured her. "Artemis, Kunzite and I will keep an eye on the city."

"Thank you," she smiled, setting the little feline down and rejoining her group as they formed a ring.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Artemis asked. "All right. Join hands. SAILOR TELEPORT!"

A cascade of rainbow light poured around them as each lifted slightly off the ground. The sheer power of it cracked the pavement of the walkway as they vanished.

"Good luck, everyone," Luna murmured into the silence. The others agreed.