I didn't want to leave it with a death scene, so here is Chapter 12. This is a short chapter and it's just a transition. The senshi and the shittenou are starting to put all the pieces together, so the next chapter shall be longer and start explaining everything. Thanks to you guys who've stuck with my very sporadic updating schedule, and those of you who harass me to continue. So, without further ado, I give you Chapter 12.

Mina woke up with a start, grabbing her stomach and doubling over, letting out a low moan. Lita was up in a flash jumping out of her bed and over to Mina, putting an arm around her friend's shoulders.

"What's wrong?" she asked, smoothing blonde hair back from Mina's forehead.

Mina glanced at Lita, her blue eyes wet with tears. "I had a dream last night. And I remembered how it ended." Lita closed her eyes, as if in pain. "They didn't betray us," Mina whispered.

"We knew that though, sweetie," Lita said, getting under the covers with her friend and pulling her into a hug. "We knew they were on our side."

"Malachite led the attack at the North Gate, and I fought him, and I lost. I lost to Malachite. I even had the stone sword, and he killed me and then he killed Kunzite. And he had to watch me die," Mina removed her hands from her stomach and held them up. She looked at them before looking at Lita. "There was so much blood. I didn't know that we had that much."

Lita didn't say anything; she just hugged her tighter as Mina cried.

/

Zane was sitting on the corner of Kale's desk, looking through a sheaf of papers, while Kale stared out the window.

"According to your contract, you've got one last stop in Dallas; it's for the night after tomorrow. Maybe we can take the girls, get them out of here for awhile?" Zane asked, and then frowned at his friend. "Kale."

He jumped. "What? I was paying attention." At Zane's disbelieving frown he said, "Yes, we should take the girls to Dallas. We can get them out of the line of fire for awhile, and we can also, hopefully show them a good time."

Zane shrugged. "Okay you were paying attention. I'll go call Amy and have her spread the word down the grapevine."

Zane headed out of his friend's office and stepped into his. He fished his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Amy's number.

"Hey, sweetheart," he said when she picked up. "I've got a surprise for everyone."

/

Raye was sitting on her bed, legs crossed watching Bunny with fascination. The blonde girl was flitting from closet to dresser to bed effortlessly while still talking a mile a minute.

"Raye!" she said, getting the black-haired girl's attention. "Have you even been listening to a word I've said?"

Raye shook her head bemused. "Not really. What did you say though?" she said, quickly cutting off a tantrum.

"I was just talking about how excited I am that you guys are together now. And that we're all going to be getting front row seats at the concert. And –"

And she lost Raye's attention again. She drew her knees up to her chest and looked out the window. She could feel something in the air, a thickening sensation, almost like molasses. Which, from what she remembered from the last time they'd fought the Dark Kingdom, meant they were winding up for something big. Something really big.

"Bunny?" she asked, interrupting her. "Can you call Darien and everyone over here?"

Bunny's blue eyes widened. "Tell me this is not going to interfere with our trip," she said, her voice cracking slightly.

"It might," Raye said, with an apologetic smile.

/

Fifteen minutes later everyone was gathered in Raye and Bunny's dorm room, waiting. Raye first glanced at Darien and said, "Have you been feeling well lately?"

Darien was startled and blinked at her for a moment. "I feel like I'm coming down with a cold," he said finally.

Raye frowned and looked at Mina, who was standing at the back of the room, away from everyone. "I think I figured out where we keep going wrong with the Dark Kingdom. It hasn't been until recently that we knew about Elysian and Darien's Golden Crystal. And then all of our Sailor Crystals of course. The Ginzuishou is Bunny's Sailor Crystal and it's not enough to destroy them, for all it can do, it only protects."

"So we have to supply the power to destroy," Mina said, looking at the wall.

"Exactly. Because as long as we rely on the Ginzuishou, it can only protect us. And, as we've discovered, if Bunny quits using it for awhile like she did when we left Japan, the protection dwindles. So unless we want to be doddering around at 90 using the Ginzuishou to seal up the Dark Kingdom, we have to concentrate on destroying it."

"So first stop is we go to Helios," Darien said. Raye nodded.

"I'll go make the arrangements to postpone everything," Zane said, turning to leave.

"I'll go with you," Amy said, grabbing his hand and following him out the door.

One by one the others paired off and left until only Bunny and Darien were left. Bunny sighed and flopped down on the bed next to her suitcase.

"Damn it."