Serena pulled Lita to the back of the school, a place where the kids that smoked or did drugs went during their breaks. Right now, there was no one there, so Serena figured it was safe to talk openly about this now.

"Lita, what did you think you were doing? The guys could have seen that little outburst of power and then we would have to tell them. Do you really want to blow our secret identities?"

"No, I'm sorry Serena, but I can't take this anymore," Lita said, her throat constricted with tears.

"We know, Lita," Ami said, "But you just have to deal with it, like us. We know it's hard, but we have each other to lean on." Ami paused for a moment, her eyes spotting Lita's hand.

"Oh my God, Lita!" Ami exclaimed, looking at Lita's bloodied hand. She reached for it to bandage it up, but Lita pulled away.

"I can't do any of it anymore. I won't!"

"Do any more of what?" Mina asked cautiously, afraid of what the answer would be. But, she never got her answer.

The Scouts heard a loud crash and turned their heads to find a droid coming in from above.

"Ok, you guys. You know what we have to do," Serena said, "MOON CRYSTAL POWER!"

"MARS STAR POWER!"

"MERCURY STAR POWER!"

"VENUS STAR POWER!" And after a moment of hesitation, "JUPITER STAR POWER!" The 5 scouts jumped into the air, landing atop of the school buildings and ran towards the droid by way of the roof.

***
The guys turned around when they heard a resonating crash. Immediately regretting not carrying their kanji balls at all times, they ran towards the sound and stopped when they got to the courtyard. In the middle was a large droid that looked like it was patiently awaiting the arrival of something or someone. The droid itself looked like a large robot, done in colors of purple and blood red.

As people began to gather around the sound of the crash and began screaming in terror, the Sailor Scouts approached the scene, running on the rooftops.

They stopped at the edge of the roof and Sailor Moon cried, "Stop right there!" The droid turned and addressed Sailor Moon by shooting beams of energy at her and the Scouts, causing them to jump off of the roof and onto the ground.

Sailor Venus, wanting to prevent the destruction of land and people, concentrated her powers and began her attack.

"VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE!" A stream of light and what looked small hearts flew towards the droid, hitting it dead on. The attack made the droid falter and in that moment, Sailor Mercury took the time to use her attack.

"SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!" she cried as ice-cold water hurled towards the droid, creating a block of ice around it. The other three Scouts then combined their power together to deliver the final blow against the weak droid.

"MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!"

"JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP!"

"MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION!" The combined attacks destroyed the droid easily and people began to applaud the Sailor Scouts, but they just ignored the crowd around them.

The Sailor Scouts, who were right next to the Ronin Warriors, began their conversation that they had been having before they were forced to beat the droid.

Lita began to walk away and Serena cried out, "Jupiter, get back here. Don't walk away from me. We're not finished here yet!"

"I told you, I'm not doing any of it anymore. I can't deal with the pain." Lita turned around and started to take her tiara off, a move that would reveal to all who she really was since her tiara used its power to protect her identity and removing it would deactivate that power.

Sailor Moon stepped away from the other Sailor Scouts and yelled loudly, "Don't you dare! If you reveal your identity, you'll blow everyone else's."

"I don't care. I cannot do this anymore, Sailor Moon. But, I don't expect you to understand." Serena looked shocked.

"You don't think I understand?" Serena asked, "You don't think I don't know what it feels like to live with the memory of a loved one dying? Well, let me tell you something. How do you think I felt when I was forced to watch you guys die when we fought Beryl in the North Pole? How do you think I felt being told not to help you guys when you went off to fight the Doom and Gloom girls and then have you guys die in front of me? How do you think I felt watching Tuxedo Mask give up his life for me with Beryl? How do you think I felt when we fought Ann and Alan and I watched you get hurt?

"I've been through so much more than you have, Jupiter, and I got through it. If I could, then you can, too. And your case is different. I knew who I was watching die. You're grieving over a ghost lover. You don't even remember who he is." Everyone in the courtyard was staring aghast at the Sailor Scouts. Everyone thought that the Sailor Scouts were perfect, but here they were, showing human pain and fighting amongst themselves.

Kento could feel for Sailor Jupiter because he knew how she felt. When Dais and Talpa told him that his Hardrock armor was the same as the Warlords' and could be used for the same destruction and evil, he had refused to believe it and didn't want to fight anymore because he knew the type of destruction he could cause. Kento doubted his own ability to go on and it seemed to him that Sailor Jupiter was having the same problem that he had.

Lita's fist clenched as she felt Serena's words like a whip. She knew Serena was right, but she couldn't deal with the pain right now. She wanted to take a break from it and let things settle before fighting again.

Taking out her transformation pen, she said, "I can't do this. I won't." Closing her fist around the pen, she threw it to the ground behind her and it landed by Rowen's feet. Rowen picked it up and studied it, noting the Jupiter symbol on the top of the pen.

"No, you can't do that," Mina said.

"We need you, you're an integral part of the team," Ami cried.

"Without you, we can't do it," Raye said in response to Lita's throwing down the transformation pen.

Serena closed her eyes against the tears and said, "You pick the transformation pen up, Jupiter. You can't quit this team. We need you too much. I need you." She walked over to Lita and put her hand on her shoulder.

"You're most of my strength. You believe in me when no one else does. I can't fight without you. I don't think I could live without you as my friend and teammate."
Lita jerked her shoulder out of Serena's hand and whispered so no one but Serena could hear,
"I can't do it anymore, Serena."

"I know, Lita," Serena whispered quietly.

"I won't do it anymore," Lita said, a little louder this time, "I'll see you guys at home." Lita walked away and Serena started to cry. Mina was sobbing, huddled on the ground, Ami was quietly crying, and there were tears running down Raye's face.

"No, Jupiter. You can't!" Serena yelled. Lita turned around and said, "I'm sorry, Princess," before leaping onto the roof of the school and running off.

Rowen, who was still inspecting the transformation pen, looked at it with new eyes. Is this where her power to transform comes from? So, who is she when she's not Sailor Jupiter? Rowen thought. Over the past month and a half, he had been getting clues as to who the Sailor Scouts were, but he still couldn't piece them together to form a solid argument. It was like something was blocking him from figuring it out. But, he knew that there was a connection between the exchange students, Serena, Raye, Mina, Ami, and Lita, and the Sailor Scouts, but he didn't know what it was. Yet. Shaking his head, he handed the pen to Kento, who looked at it with sadness in his eyes.

As Kento held the pen, he could feel Sailor Jupiter's pain. It's like holding the pen gave him a link into her emotions and Kento found himself wishing he could find out who she was. Serena, still as Sailor Moon, walked over to Kento and held out her hand.

"Could I have it back? Please?" Serena pleaded.

"Sure," Kento said as he handed it to her. "What is it?" he asked.

Serena looked up into his eyes and said, "It was a promise." The guys, although they didn't know what was going on with the Scouts, understood the symbolic meaning of the pen.

It was like their kanji balls. To the Ronin Warrior, the kanji balls represented a promise to always be ready to fight, to never back down in the face of evil, and to always help no matter what. They knew that the transformation pen meant the same thing and they empathized with Sailor Moon and the other scouts. Sailor Jupiter had broken an oath she took when she received that pen and it hurt to know that.

"Thank you," Serena said to Kento as she cradled the pen close to her chest.

"You guys, give me your pens," she said to the girls. The girls took out their pens and handed them to Serena; they knew what she was going to do. She was going to give their pens to people who could protect them because if Lita didn't fight, none of them would fight. Of course, Serena would keep the Silver Crystal, but she wouldn't use it unless it was an emergency.

Serena looked at the four sticks in her hands with tears in her eyes and then proceeded to hand them out to the Ronin Warriors. She gave Ami's to Rowen, Raye's to Sage, Lita's to Kento, and Mina's to Cye.

"I want you to look after these until we're a team again. I trust you guys with the fate of the world and the future. Please, don't let me down," Serena said with an edge of sadness in her voice.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of them," Cye said.

Sage, who had been pretty quiet throughout the whole ordeal, looked at the red stick in his hand and recognized the symbol at the top as the symbol for the planet Mars. As he looked over the stick, he got a flash of déjà vu. He remembered seeing Raye holding something that looked like this a few weeks ago while they sat in math together. Why did Raye have something like this? Sage wondered as he looked at the beautiful pen.

"Come on, guys, let's go home," Serena said as she started to walk off. The girls, still as the Sailor Scouts, followed and left the courtyard, walking into the school building and out the front entrance. They walked over to a deserted alley next to the school and detransformed for the last time. With long faces, they walked out of the alley and separated, Mina going in the direction of home to where Lita was and the others back into school.

***
Meanwhile, back in the courtyard, the crowd of people had dissipated, all of them talking about how the Sailor Scouts were breaking up. Now, there was only the Ronin Warriors left in the courtyard, sitting at their usual table with the Scouts' transformation pens in their hands.

"I can't believe she trusted us with these," Sage said.

"She must really have faith in us," said Cye. The guys just looked at the pens in solemn silence, not believing that they had been entrusted with the very things that allowed the scouts to call on their power.

"They must feel really helpless," Kento said, "I mean, if your key for unlocking your power was given to someone else, wouldn't you feel a little insecure?"

"That's really good insight," Ryo said, not believing the maturity in Kento's voice.

"Yeah, well I have them every once in a while," Kento said with a small smirk on his face.

Rowen, who had been meticulously studying Sailor Mercury's transformation pen, said, "Hey guys, how did they get here so fast?"

"Who?" Sage asked.

"The Sailor Scouts. They were here moments after that monster attacked. They either had to be really close or they were already here," Rowen said, staring off into nothing, trying to figure it out.

"What are you saying, Rowen?" Cye asked.

"I'm saying that I think that the Sailor Scouts are..."

"I cannot believe her!" Raye cried. The exclamation cut off Rowen, his train of thought lost, and the guys all turned to see Ami, Serena, and Raye entering the courtyard.

"Don't be mad at her, Raye. She's kept this inside of her for two years, never telling anyone. I think all of us, besides her, have broken down about this before," Ami said.

"Yeah, Raye. Have a little more compassion," Serena accused.

"I do have compassion. It's just masked by anger right now," Raye said with indignation.

"Hey, guys, what's going on?" Ryo called out. Serena gave a jump and turned her head to see the Ronin Warriors, still in the courtyard.

"Oh, hey guys," Raye said, walking over to the table and sitting down next to Sage. The other girls sat down, Ami in between Cye and Rowen and Serena in between Ryo and Kento. Raye buried her head in her hands and Sage, who had just put Sailor Mars' transformation pen in his pocket, put his arm around Raye in a friendly gesture and hugged her close to him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

"Oh, I suppose I can tell you now," Serena said. "Today is the anniversary of a close friend's death. She was killed in a gang attack. We were all close friends, but she and Lita were best friends," Serena said, reciting the story that she, Ami, Mina, and Raye had come up with.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ryo said. By now, the transformation pens had disappeared from sight, safely tucked away in the pockets of the Ronin Warriors.

"It's ok," said Serena, "It's just that on the anniversary, the memories just come back hard and Lita is the most affected. She never really mourned for her death. I guess she couldn't hold it in anymore."

Serena drew in a breath and asked, "Kento?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Could you come over to our place after school today and talk to Lita? I'm sure she'll talk to you. Right now, Mina is on her way home to talk to her, but although Mina's her best friend, she hasn't opened up to Mina yet. I think she just might talk to you," Serena pointed out.

"Why do you think she'll talk to me?" Kento asked.

"Because she trusts you and she doesn't know you as well as she knows us. Maybe the fact that you don't know everything will open her up."

"Ok, I'll try," Kento promised.

"Hey," Ryo said, "How about we all go and then afterwards, if Lita's feeling better, we can all head over to our place and you guys can meet Mia. You haven't met her yet."

Serena smiled and said, "We'd love to. Ok, so, after school. We'll go over to our place, see if we can cheer up Lita, then head over to your place, which is totally cool, Ryo. I've been wanting to meet your girlfriend for a while now."

"Yeah, well she wants to meet all of you guys," Ryo said, "She's heard so much about you."

"Really, how?" Serena asked.

"Well, you girls are all we talk about," Ryo said.

Raye lifted her head out of her hands and looked at Sage with an eyebrow raised.

"All you guys talk about?" she asked Sage, who blushed and said, "Yeah, well, basically." Raye only smiled.