Secondary Characters: Rainbow
{Jon Carp}
address: jcarp@med.unc.edu



It's not easy bein' green. It seems you blend in with so many other
ordinary things, and people tend to pass you over 'cause you're not
standing out like flashy sparkles in the water, or stars in the
sky.--Kermit the Frog




But green's the color of Spring, and green can be cool and friendly-
like, and green can be big like an ocean or important like a mountain
or tall like a tree.--Kermit the Frog















She wouldn't look at them. Instead, she went over to the edge
of the roof and sat down, massaging her temples. "I have a headache,"
she muttered to no one in particular.

Moon and Tuxedo Kamen were reuniting over on one side. Mars,
an expression on her face that none of them had ever seen on her face
before, was keeping an eye on Pluto. Mercury looked regarded Venus
through her visor. "You're in perfect health," she said, not sounding
at all surprised.

Venus, on the other hand, was more confused than she'd ever
been. "What just happened?" she asked, her voice wavering just a
little, and she hated herself for it. Good leaders don't get upset
like that. Good leaders also don't let all their best friends get
murdered. "She... didn't kill us, did she?"

"Yes, she did," Mercury answered. "Repeatedly."

"Why do we keep coming back? We've died so many times..."

"I think we're immortal."

Venus was still confused, but allowed a tiny smile to creep
onto her face. "We're immortal because we fight for love and justice,
right? Love and justice always wins."

Mercury smiled back, just as subtly. "Yes."

A very soft noise interrupted their moment. Mars had her
hands around Pluto's neck, and was squeezing as hard as she could.
Pluto made no sound at all, and only Mars' growled mantra had alerted
them to the altercation: "You killed her you killed her you killed
her..."

Almost immediately, Sailor Moon was there, tugging frantically
at Mars' hands but murmuring gently in her ear. Mercury and Venus were
there a second later, and together they got her away from Pluto.

"She wasn't supposed to ever die again!!" Mars shrieked with
such ferocity the words could not be understood. Pluto was dead and
did not hear her anyway.

After a few moments, Mars freed herself from the grip of her
fellow senshi and stomped off to the other side of the roof. Sailor
Moon followed, and Tuxedo Kamen tactfully left them alone and joined
the others near Pluto's body. It was not long before she started
breathing and looking sullen again.

Mercury walked up to her cautiously. "Are you okay now?"
she asked. "Are you..."

"Shut up. Just shut up and go away." She sounded like
somebody who hadn't had their morning cup of coffee yet.

Mercury sadly did as she was told. "She should just calm
down," Venus said upon the smart one's return. "Acting like that
isn't going to help the situation."

"I'm not sure I understand the situation," Tuxedo Kamen
admitted. "What can we do with her? She's a murderer. We can't
just forgive her."

"I think we should," Mercury said quietly. "It obviously
won't do any good to fight her. And if she's not going to be
directly punished for what she did, we're going to have to work
with her."

"Divine retribution is a myth," she called out to them. "I
should know. I came up with it myself."

"What else can we do?" Venus remarked, ignoring Pluto's
outburst. "She's one of us, no matter what she did."

"The animates were senshi too, and we had no problem with
their deaths," Tuxedo Kamen said.

"What do you want to do with her?" Mercury asked. "What
else CAN we do?"

"We could banish her. Take her power and send her away."

"But we might need her in the future," Mercury said. "We
don't know. All of us may be necessary."

"I feel so bad for her," Venus said. "Did you see her face
when she was fighting us?"

"Yes," Mercury answered. "It was scary."

"No, it was sad," Venus said. "We can't just banish her."

"Is it even possible?" Mercury asked. "CAN we take her
power if we want?"

"Probably," Tuxedo Kamen said. "But not now. She's gone."

They all whirled around and saw he was right. Pluto was no
longer there.







Her face was in her hands. It looked like she was sobbing,
but there were no tears, just bland depression.

She looked up, and noticed her surroundings had changed. She
sighed.

"So THIS is the Time Gate," a rather sarcastic voice said
behind her. "I always wondered what it looked like."

"You should have visited," Setsuna said. "I would've let you,
if you'd asked."

Her friends... rather, her family were standing around her.
"It's very... purple," Haruka said.

"And still," Michiru broke in. "There's absolutely no
movement. You come here often?"

"A lot in the old days," she said. "I practically lived here
for a couple of hundred years, when there was nowhere else to go."

"How boring it must have been," Michiru said, more than a
touch of pity in her voice. "I'm sorry." She reached out and touched
her friend's hand softly.

"Don't be," Setsuna said. "It's obnoxious."

"We're just trying to help," Hotaru said. "That's all we ever
tried to do."

"Shut up," she growled. "I don't need your condescending
remarks. What the hell are you all doing here, anyway?"

"We're trying to figure you out," a gruff voice said behind
her. She turned and saw her god, grimacing as always. "Standing here
are all the people in the world who care if you exist or not.
Depressing, huh?"

"Not really," Setsuna said. "I thought it wasn't this many,
actually."

"Hey, here's my question," Hotaru said. "You set up this big
ambush, and you set it up on a roof in the middle of the night? How
cliched can you get? Don't you have any imagination at all?"

"No," Setsuna asnwered blankly. "I had it supressed about
four hundred years ago through hypnosis. It's an evil thing. Nothing
is more painful than being able to picture a life that's worth
living."

That seemed to depress the others, which perked her up a
little bit.

"Don't say that," Michiru said sadly. "It can't be that bad."

"I don't know if it is or not," Setsuna said. "I just thought
it sounded dramatic."

Every single one of them wanted to reply to that, but none
could think of anything to say. Eventually Haruka just changed the
subject to the original point of the conversation.

"Why did you do it, Setsuna?"

She shrugged in response. "No reason."

"What are you talking about, 'No reason'?" Haruka asked,
breaking her promise not to get angry. "Don't you know what you did?
You MURDERED us all! You must have had a reason!"

"No," Setsuna answered. "I understand what I did. I
understand how terrible most people would consider it. But I had no
real reason to do it. I just did it."

The others glanced at each other. They all knew what would
happen if they couldn't reason with her.

"Okay, let me rephrase," Haruka said. "What did you want?"

Setsuna looked at her, confused. "Want?" she asked.

"Yes, want, goddamn it!" Haruka burst out angrily. "Want!
What the hell was the purpose of going and killing everybody?"

Setsuna pondered that. "I wanted to feel better," she said
eventually.

"Really," Haruka said. "You wanted to feel better. And what
exactly was it about killing us all did you think would make you feel
better?"

"It was the only thing I hadn't tried already."

Pluto sighed. "That doesn't help," he grunted. "Listen, I
got eight senshi and eight gods on my ass about you, and if we can't
get this cleared up NOW, I won't have any choice but to just erase
you. It would be more than fair, and everyone except us four would
prefer it."

"Just go ahead," Setsuna said. "I don't care. It's probably
better than the alternative."

"No," Michiru said forcefully. "You're part of OUR family,
and we're not going to let anyone just throw you away."

Setsuna shook her head. "Pathetic," she muttered. "Okay,
what are you going to do instead?"

"We're going to appease you," Pluto said. "Give you whatever
you wanted so you'll go back to your life and just shut up and be
happy."

"I don't know what I wanted," Setsuna said forcefully. "I
already told you that. I don't think I wanted anything. I have
everything I need to be happy already."

Pluto sighed. "Okay," he said. "Try this."

He raised his hands, and a small body appeared inside them.
He held it tenderly, cradling the rather large head as the chest
rose and sank slowly, but perceivably. He then grabbed the pink
hair in one hand and the right shoulder in the other and twisted.

The crack would have been audible, if Setsuna hadn't screamed.
She ran at him, but of course was blocked halfway there. "Bring her
back!!" she yelled almost incomprehensively. "Bring her back!"

Pluto grinned as he threw the body on the ground.
"Congratulations!" he said. "You just acted like a normal human
being."

Chibi-Usa stood up and smiled at Setsuna. "Good for you," she
said. "We can't help you if you block yourself off like you always
do. Lessee, what else do you do that's normal?"

"She likes ice cream," Michiru suggested.

"Yes," Hotaru agreed. "She likes ice cream, and normal people
like ice cream. That's a start, isn't it?"

"I hate ice cream," Setsuna protested. "I just eat it because
it makes people think I'm friendly and approachable."

"This is ridiculous," Pluto said. "Look at her. Can't you
people get her stop lying?"

"What are you talking about?" Setsuna asked. "I don't lie."

"She's always been like this," Michiru said. "I know exactly
what she wants. She'll just deny it if I say, though."

"It's not you," Setsuna muttered. "I got over you a long time
ago. Never, in fact."

"What about him?" Michiru asked suger-sweetly.

"Shut up."

"It can't be him," Hotaru pointed out. "He was just a
desperate symbol for her. No, it has to be bigger than just him."

"You're right," Pluto mused, nodding. "What else could it be,
people? What does she complain about?"

"Nothing," Haruka answered. "She always seemed perfectly
happy to me. Until a couple of days ago, at least."

"I seem to remember her saying something about jealousy,"
Hotaru said, flashing Setsuna a look.

"What jealousy?" Michiru asked, also flashing Setsuna a look.
"Who's she jealous of?"

"You, I think," Hotaru said. "Both of you. And me. And all
the inners. And, I believe, random people she sees on the street."

"Why?!" Pluto burst out. "She has everything! Love,
friendship, sex, power... what the hell else do you humans want?
She's immortal, for fuck's sake!" Setsuna looked up at him, then
quickly away.

Haruka noticed. "That's it!" she exclaimed. "That's what
she's jealous of! We're all mortal! She wanted to die!"

"Yes!" Michiru yelled excitedly. "Of course! She kills us,
thinking she's giving us some kind of gift..."

"All the while KNOWING it was an impossible task..." Haruka
continued.

"...And hoping we would come back and successfully kill her!"

Setsuna grunted. "I wanted to kill you," she said softly.
"That's all I wanted."

"Oh, come on," Haruka scoffed. "You just can't kill good-guy
senshi permenantly. You know that."

"And that's the reason for that evil thing of hers!" Hotaru
exclaimed. "So she could stay dead like the animamates did!"

"We figured it out!" Haruka yelled happily. "Setsuna wanted
to die!"

They were very proud for a few minutes. Then Chibi-Usa asked
the obvious question. "So... um, what's going to happen to her now?"

"We're going to let her die," Pluto answered. "So maybe she
can shut up and be happy, finally." He started walking toward her.

"No!" she yelled. "No. You can't do that. That's not what I
want. You...none of you understand anything."

"Then what is it?" Michiru asked.

Setsuna didn't move or look at them. She faced the opposite
way, just staring out into the unmoving purple. "I..." she began,
knowing full well she was not going to finish that sentence.

A soft hand touched her shoulder. She knew by instinct it was
Michiru's. A few seconds later, a stronger hand brushed against her
back, then five weak fingers squeezed her arm, and finally brash,
ticking arms hugged around her waist.

All of them together in a soft embrace. They loved her, and,
it was stupid to deny it anymore, she loved them.

She walked away.

"Okay, that does it," Pluto's voice growled from behind her,
behind them. "Fuck her. She wants it like that, no problem."

"No!" Haruka yelled. "No, we won't let that happen." She
turned to the streams of green hair. "Setsuna," she said softly.
"Setsuna, listen to me. You have anything you want. Do you
understand? ANYTHING."
"That's not true," Setsuna said harshly. "I'm not free.
There's still a structure, there's still a cage."

"There doesn't have to be!" Chibi-Usa protested.

Setsuna turned around, a hint of a smile on her lips. "You
really don't understand, do you? There's a storyline. There's a
pattern that all our adventures have to fit into. It's because of
that we live such happy lives in our sweet little world.

"I thought I could change it. I thought I could force an
unhappy ending." The smile disappeared. "It didn't work."

"It can," Hotaru said.

"I'm not important," Setsuna said. "Nobody has any reason to
mess everything up so much just for me."

"Try us," Pluto said.

Setsuna glared at him. He glared back. She grinned.

"I want to be the most important one," she said.

They all disappeared.





"Now, Sailor Pluto!"

A flash of pink. The pumpkin-monster screamed and
disentegrated. Sailor Pluto smiled, exhilerated and victorious, still
holding her staff in the "dead scream" position. The person who sent
the monster got angry.

After the battle, they were all in their street clothes eating
ice cream and talking. It was Halloween, and a small girl walked by
in a Sailor Pluto costume.

"How come they always dress up as you?" Usagi asked. "No one
ever buys Sailor Moon costumes."

"That's because most people would be embarrassed walking
around with their hair like yours," Rei quipped, good-naturedly.

Usagi stuck her tongue out at Rei. Rei stuck her tongue out
at Usagi. Everyong else sighed, large drops of sweat slowly rolling
down the backs of their heads.

"This isn't enough," Setsuna said to nobody at all.

The others broke out of their positions and stared at Setsuna
as if she had lost her mind.

"This isn't enough," she repeated. "I want it all."





"You can't have it all," Pluto said gruffly in the purple
place.

"You said I could have anything I wanted," Setsuna said.
"And I want it ALL. I want TO BE HER. You did similar things to all
us outers."

"That's because we could," Pluto said. "You're not important.
She is. I can't mess with her like she was some kind of... secondary
character."

"You can. You're just afraid of what will happen."

Pluto grimaced. "You're damn right I am! You're asking me to
turn the whole system upside-down! The others would never let me get
away with it. Not without her permission, at least."

Setsuna glared at him. "Then let's get it." She tossed her
hair in a sexy and uncharacteristic manner. "My whole life has been
leading to this. It's destiny."







Off to the side, three outer senshi stood immersed in the
purple, slowly and dully dreading the coming moment. "Haruka,"
Michiru whispered, "are you really going to go along with this?"

Haruka grimaced. "I have to. She trusts me, I think."

Michiru grimaced too. "Do you think she'll really do it?"

"I don't know."

Hotaru took her faux-mother's hand. "Come on, Michiru-mama,"
she said in a childlike tone, "this doesn't involve us."

Michiru nodded sadly, down at her tiny companion. Together,
the two of them walked away.

Haruka looked up at Setsuna, who was grinning from ear to ear.
"You'd really do this to her," she rasped, when she was sure the
others were out of earshot. "You'd really hurt the princess, the
messiah, to save yourself."

Setsuna shrugged. "Why's she deserve it any more than I do?"

"She's special."

"Not for long."

Haruka's eyes narrowed. She briefly considered attacking her
friend outright, but the urge passed. "What if I don't let you? I am
the leader of the outer senshi, remember."

Setsuna laughed brightly, a beautiful sound. "What do you
care? You'll be happy with dear Michiru-chan no matter what happens
to the princess."

"My duty..."

"Your duty?!" Setsuna stopped laughing. "Oh, shut up, I'm
tired of you. Just do what you're told; that's what you're best at,
right?"

Haruka opened her mouth to protest, but noticed a churning and
brightening in the purple a few meters away. Setsuna smiled and held
her hands up to her face like a small child. "She's almost here!" she
exclaimed.






Usagi blinked. Mamoru was no longer beside her, and her
surroundings were now purple. She was obviously in a different place.

Haruka walked up to her and sighed.

"I'll be blunt," she said. "Setsuna..."

Usagi cut her off. "Is she okay? What's happened to her?"

"Yes, she's fine," Haruka said, shaking her head at the
kindness standing before her. "In fact, we're going to grant her
greatest wish."

Usagi literally had tears in her eyes. "Oh, I'm so happy for
her. What is it?"

Haruka also had tears in her eyes. "Don't smile, Usagi," she
said harshly. "This is not good news."

Usagi blinked. "What? If she gets this she'll be happy,
right? And if she's happy she won't try to hurt anyone else. So how
can it be bad?"

Christ, it was like talking to a puppy.

"Usagi..." Haruka said softly. "Her wish... she wants to be
you."

Usagi blinked again. "What?"

"She wants to have your life."

It took quite a while for the full meaning of that statement
to sink in. "And what about me?" Usagi asked.

"Your kindness is legendary," a voice came from behind her.
"You really would do anything to spare others pain, wouldn't you?"

Usagi turned and saw Setsuna standing there, smiling slightly.

"I think it's obvious how much pain I'm in," Setsuna said.
"Would a comfortable person kill repeatedly?" She walked closer.
"Spare me that," she whispered. "Please. Let me have your life."

"What about me?!" Usagi asked. Setsuna could tell how
terrified she was.

"I don't know," Setsuna said. "I guess you can have mine."

It took quite a while for the full meaning of that statement
to sink in. Usagi opened her mouth. Then she closed it again.

"So, the question you have to consider is: are you willing to
take on a lifetime of misery to spare someone else from having to go
thorugh it?"

Usagi touched her cheek briefly. It was already wet. She was
already mourning for poor Setsuna. "This is wrong," she said softly.
"This is all wrong. There's a third way, there has to be."

Setsuna grunted, clearly unimpressed. She rolled her eyes at
her fellow outer senshi and said, "I knew she'd do this."

"No," Usagi continued, oblivious to the others, like she was
holding a coversation with someone no one else could see. "No, there
HAS to be another way! There has to be some way that no one has to
suffer. There's ALWAYS another way!"

Setsuna's face was frozen in an expression of stoney
disapproval. "You're such a little girl. There's no other way."

No!" Usagi shrieked, "there HAS to be! I'm just... I'm just
not smart enough to figure it out! But Setsuna-san, you're smart, and
you..." She turned around frantically. "Haruka-san, you're really
smart, you can figure it out!"

Haruka wasn't able to even look directly at her. "There's no
other way."

"I don't believe you!!" Usagi screeched, her hair and tears
flying through the air. "There's ALWAYS another way! Nobody innocent
EVER has to suffer, that's the way it works! That's love and justice,
right?! Love and justice!!"

Setsuna struck her. Usagi fell to her hands and knees on the
soft, purple ground. She did not move, but she did cry.

"You're wrong," Setsuna said calmly. "That's the way things
used to work. The rules have changed. It's time you grew up, don't
you think?"

Usagi clenched her teeth and glared up the blurry, green form
she assumed was Setsuna. The purple seemed stronger than ever. "Why
are you doing this?" she rasped. "I just want to help you. I don't
want anyone to suffer. Why can't you believe in me?"

Her eyes were huge and wet and blue, like tiny oceans. Haruka
felt sick all of a sudden and turned away. Setsuna looked deeper and
saw more than tears there, she saw confusion and pain and white-hot
fury and the tiniest bit of doubt. She smirked.

"Maybe you won't ever believe me," she murmured. "But you
love your friends, don't you? You'll believe them."

Suddenly, Makoto was there, cloaked wholly in purple, even her
tender, sparkling eyes. She looked confused.

"Kino-san," Setsuna announced, like a schoolmarm at morning
roll-call, "please be so kind as to tell us all what you did exactly
seven months and fifteen days ago."

Makoto shivered and had no idea why. The purple was cold, and
so were her eyes. "What?"

Setsuna leaned closer. "That night. Tell us what you did
That Night."

Makoto blinked. "That... night?"

"Yes. Tell us." Setsuna indicated Usagi with a small tilt of
her head. "Tell your friend there."

Makoto noticed Usagi for the first time, and her mouth fell
open in horror. "I can't tell HER!" she tried to say, but was cut off
by Usagi's attack.

Makoto staggered back, but kept her ground. Usagi had her
arms wrapped around her waist and was squeezing so tightly. "Help me
tell them how it works, Mako-chan!" she near-wailed. "They won't
believe me. Help me tell them about love and justice, okay?"

Makoto did not even seem to hear her. The purple was
crushing, and Usagi's blonde pigtails flittered through it like smoke,
like the smoke that wisps from newly charred flesh.

Usagi looked up at her sworn protector, the most trustworthy
person she knew. "Mako-chan?"

"Were you planning on never telling her?" Setsuna asked
breezily. "She cares about you. Were you just going to lie to her
forever?"

Makoto didn't say anything. Usagi just wouldn't let go.
"What's she talking about, Mako-chan?" Makoto still didn't say
anything.

Setsuna rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll tell her for you."
Makoto still didn't say anything, so Setsuna put her hand on Usagi's
shoulder and stared deep in her eyes like a fictional hypnotist.
"Your friend did something very bad," she said, in a voice
appropriately like an adult preparing a very young child to learn a
harsh fact of life. "She... murdered two men."

Usagi still wouldn't let go and Makoto still wouldn't say
anything, so Setsuna explained further. "Not youma. Not lemurs.
People. She killed them out of cold blood because she wanted to,
because she could."

Usagi glared at Setsuna and humphed, completely unfazed. "Now
you're just lying to get me mad. You shouldn't say horrible things
about people..."

"Stop it, Usagi-chan," Makoto interrupted.

Usagi fell silent. Her grip on Makoto's waist weakened
slightly. Her knuckles were still white from tension, but to Makoto,
they looked dark grey.

"She doesn't want to say it, but now you know it is true,"
Setsuna said reassuringly. "I'm not sure which of you I pity more."

Makoto tried to look anywhere but Usagi, but the purple was
overpoweringly bright, Haruka seemed to drip with horror and blame,
and Setsuna burned to look at. So she stared right down at Usagi's
wonderfully blue eyes, which were more confused than anything else.
"I don't understand, Mako-chan," Usagi was saying. "You could never do
anything like that. You fight for love and justice!"

"Something happened," Makoto mumbled, so quietly that Usagi
did not even hear her. "Something that wasn't loving or just. I
didn't know what to do, Usagi-chan." Her eyes were green again. "I'm
sorry. Your world is so beautiful. I wish I could be a part of it
again."

Makoto blinked, surprised, because she suddenly felt a strong
hand on her shoulder. She looked up, and Haruka was standing there.
Her eyes were green, too.

Usagi forgot her confusion and just squeezed tighter.
Makoto's body responded by softening and squishing and fading away.
Soon Usagi found herself hugging purple.

She started, blinked, and noticed that Haruka was gone as
well. Setsuna now had someone else with her, someone with shimmering,
silver hair and a plain, plain face.

"Do I know you?" Usagi whispered. "I feel like I should...
who are you?"

The girl smiled wistfully. She opened her mouth to speak, but
Setsuna cut her off.

"She's no one. She's just a pathetic little nobody, a
bystander at best. The only reason she was even given existence was
to punish two arrogant senshi who each thought they deserved
everything on a silver platter."

The girl hung her head. "I am no one," she confirmed. "But I
remember being someone. I remember wanting to be loved, that's all."
She looked up with a chilling expression. "And you loved me. You
didn't even know me very well, but you did love me. I wanted to thank
you for that."

Usagi blinked. She had no idea what was going on, but was
grateful she had something to keep her mind off of Makoto's
revelation. "I don't remember. Why don't I remember?"

"Because she never existed," Setsuna replied. "She was
erased. She was unnecessary. And it doesn't matter how many people
love you, if you're unnecessary, you can fall away at any moment."

"That's not true!" Usagi declared, struggling to her feet.
She limped to the nonexistant girl and grabbed her hands. "I can make
you real again," she murmured.

She gazed deep into the girl's eyes and felt love deep within
her (for she really DID love this girl, despite never having seen her
before) and was surprised that she did not feel a surge of power, that
she did not find herself surrounded by magical sparklies flittering
through the air, that the nonexistant girl did not suddenly become
real.

Her lower lip began to tremble as she dropped the girl's hand.
"But... but that's not FAIR!" she exclaimed. "Unfair things don't
happen, except to evil people! Everything's supposed to be okay in
the end, why isn't it WORKING?!"

Setsuna fought the urge to hit her again. "I told you before,
the rules have changed. You can't save her." She grinned. "But you
can save me. If you're willing to accept the responsibility."

The silver-haired woman felt like crying as she watched Usagi
sink to her knees. Usagi had loved her, and she had loved her back...
almost as much as she loved Michiru or the funk.

Usagi began to cry as the nonexistant woman slowly faded back
into the purple, back to the nonending beat, back to the shine of
eight million flashlights.

Setsuna stood over Usagi, scowling. "You're amazing. You're
going to be queen of the world, you have super powers and amazing
adventures, you, your husband, and all your best friends get to be
functionally immortal, and yet you just take it all for granted. You
assume you deserve it all, and why? Because you're LOVING."

Usagi cried harder, though she might not have been paying any
attention at all to Setsuna's words. "Do you have any idea how many
loving people there are in the world?" Setsuna asked with scorn.
"What makes you so special?"

"I don't think I'm special," Usagi whimpered. "I just know
that everything will be okay if you believe in love and justice.
That's all." She looked up, no longer crying. "Why can't you
believe, Setsuna-san?"

Setsuna ignored her. Suddenly, Rei was there.

"Usagi-chan!" she yelled, forgetting her confusion at suddenly
finding herself immersed in purple and running to her fallen friend.
On the way there, though, she noticed Setsuna and stopped short. "I'm
not gonna let you hurt her anymore!" she called, before transforming
into Sailor Mars.

Setsuna rolled her redwood-colored eyes. "Are you going to
burn me?" she asked lightly, "or just strangle me again? It won't do
any good; I'm immortal thanks to your friend there."

Rei stood directly in-between Usagi and Setsuna, not moving a
muscle. "Why?" she growled. "You killed her. You're a villian. Why
would YOU be immortal?"

Setsuna shrugged. "Don't ask me. The gods just favor her.
To tell you the truth, emotionally they're just a bunch of little
girls. They feel enlivened by her innocent heart. How pathetic that
the most powerful hero in the world was chosen because she truly loves
her boyfriend."

Sailor Mars did not respond.

Setsuna grinned. She reached into the purple and pulled out a
small, black handgun. "How would you feel about dying, Rei? Right
now?"

Usagi gasped. Mars still did not move.

Setsuna idly pointed the gun in Mars's direction. "And I'm not
talking about the kind of thing that happened tonight. I mean REALLY
dying. For good."

Usagi gasped again, and Setsuna continued. "I've worked it
out with the god Pluto, and if you're okay with it, so is he."

Usagi ran forward and grabbed Mars's arm, trying to pull her
away. Mars seemed to be made of stone and did not budge.

"Here's how it will work," Setsuna said. "I'll aim the gun at
dear Usagi-chan, and then I'll pull the trigger. And you can jump in
the path of the bullet, and angle your body in such a way that none of
your blood spurts onto her. And then you'll lie there on the ground,
and she'll kneel over you, and you'll have a final moment where she
looks into your eyes and you murmur some heartfelt last words, and
you'll die, for real.

"And for that one moment, you'll be the most important person
in the world to her."

"More important than Mamoru-san," Mars whispered.

"More important than anyone. She'll love you more than she
loves anyone else, and she'll realize, at last, how special you know
she is."

Usagi kept pulling. "Rei-chan, what's going on? Why are you
listening to her?"

Mars ignored her. She looked up at Setsuna with dark purple
eyes, much darker than the void around them. "I'll do it," she said.

Usagi's mouth fell open in absolute horror. "Rei-chan..." she
whispered. Setsuna was grinning, and suddenly the world went red for
Usagi. She didn't understand what was going on or why any of this was
even happening, all she knew was that someone was going to hurt Hino
Rei, her beloved friend, whom she loved more than... well, whom she
loved as much as she loved everyone else.

Usagi immediately began her transformation into Sailor Moon.
Setsuna rolled her eyes. She aimed her gun right at the heart of the
shimmering, naked form and pulled the trigger.

Pluto was too fast. Mars did not have time to focus on the
angle of her body. The bullet struck her in the stomach, and blood
flew onto the pinkish, slender beauty. Sailor Moon froze,
mid-transformation, and the colors went away and she was Usagi again.

Mars lay on the ground, wanting to laugh but unable. Usagi
was kneeling over her, a beautiful real thing amidst the purple
falseness. "You outsmarted yourself," she rasped to Setsuna, whom she
could not see. "She has to hate you now. She'll fight you and win,
and then she'll be happy with Mamoru-san forever."

Tears dilluted with blood began to rain down on her. She
tried to look at Usagi, but everything was too fuzzy and confusing.
"Please don't cry, Usagi-chan. It's what I wanted, okay? I've never
been more happy than right now." She tremblingly raised her hand.
Usagi grasped it and held it up to her own face, crying onto it. Mars
sighed happily. "Please, Usagi... promise me something."

"What, Rei-chan?"

Mars closed her eyes. Speech was becoming so difficult.
"After you beat her, after you win... don't bring me back. Please.
Promise you won't ever bring me back."

"Of course I won't promise that!" Usagi exclaimed, almost
letting go of Mars's hand. "I want you with me, I want..."

"Don't be selfish!" Mars chastised, though she couldn't stop
smiling. "I dream about this moment every night, Usagi. It's exactly
how I always imagined it."

Then she died.

Usagi barely even noticed. Rei's blood covered her clothes
and skin. She had seen blood before, of course, but it had looked
different then: brighter, more colorful. She half-expected angelic
hands to come from the sky and carry Sailor Mars's limp body up to
heaven, but nothing happened. The blood just went darker.

Setsuna tossed the gun off into the purple. It made no noise
when it hit the ground. "I can't imagine how confused you must be
right now," she remarked with a smirk. "That's not what Rei-chan is
supposed to want, is it? No, she's supposed to want some sort of
successful career and have lots of fun... and most of all, she's
supposed to want to fall in love with a handsome man, marry him, and
live happily ever after. She's not supposed to want..." she indicated
the corpse... "that."

"You killed her," Usagi whimpered.

"No, I gave her what she wanted," Setsuna replied. "What she
wanted was to die, and the reason she wanted that was you. So,
actually, YOU killed her."

Usagi dropped Mars's hand. It fell to the ground with a
surprisingly loud thud. "She said I should fight you."

"I know. I was listening."

Usagi suddenly began crying again. "I don't understand at
all. She's not supposed to die for good! You're not supposed to be
evil! People aren't supposed to just be thrown away because fate
decides it doesn't have a use for them anymore. We fight for love and
justice; love and justice shouldn't let any of this happen!"

"I told you before, the rules are different now."

Usagi stood up, knees wobbling. "If I switch with you, will
Rei-chan be alive again?"

"Yes, she will."

"And she won't want to die for me anymore?" Usagi's voice was
piercing, though she merely whispered.

"No, she won't. A lot of things will be different."

"And Mako-chan and that girl... they'll be happy?"

Setsuna rolled her eyes. "I'll see what I can do."

"And what about you? You won't be evil and angry anymore?"

For one brief moment Setsuna felt guilty, one brief, horrible
moment. Then she smirked again. "No, I won't."

Usagi hung her head, defeated. "Then I want to do it."

Setsuna paused. "Usagi... I want to make sure you understand
the situation. This is not some wacky fantasy adventure. Not all
good deeds are rewarded anymore. You do know that, don't you?" And
you and Mamoru won't love each other, she certainly did not say.

"I know that," Usagi whispered. "I know." Then she closed
her mouth and refused to say any more, but she did not cry. Rei-chan
wouldn't have wanted her to cry.

The god Pluto stood behind Setsuna. "I'm happy for you,
babe," he said. "You deserve this. She doesn't, but you do."

"This isn't about her," Setsuna replied angrily, without
looking at him. "It's about me." She walked over to Usagi and placed
her hand on the tiny, trembling, red-stained shoulder. "All right,"
she said, "let's get this over with."












It was a beautiful day. Setsuna opened her eyes and just
looked out the open window for a little bit. It was gorgeous, bright
and sunny. The breeze was slightly cool, and smells seemed to waft
with it more easily than normal. Right now it was...evaporating rain.

She stretched and looked down to the foot of the bed.
"Morning, Luna," she said, bouncing out of bed and starting to get
dressed. "Did you sleep well?"

"As well as normal," Luna grumbled. "It's hard when somebody
keeps rolling over you."

"Whoops," Setsuna giggled. "Sorry."

Luna shook herself and yawned. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, I'm meeting Mamo-chan for breakfast, then Minako-chan and
I are going shopping."

Luna grunted, stretched, and went back to sleep. Setsuna
laughed. She stuck her head out the window, inhaled the smell of
evaporating rain, and then let it out. The sun shone on the pavement,
and the slight mist made a rainbow hang low, seemingly within reach.
Curious, Setsuna reached out and tried touch it, but of course didn't
feel anything but the cool morning air.

Oh well. It was beautiful anyway.




It was another day. Usagi woke up and got dressed. She
looked out the window, and saw what was on the outside of the window.
She smelled something. Her skirt had a hole in it, so she put on
another one. Outside her window a rainbow hung low in the sky,
seemingly within reach.

She walked downstairs.