The Guardian, Part 12
Confession
By Taerir

All Sailor Moon references are the property of their respective owners. Any concepts, characters, world names, plotlines, and so on not found in the Sailormoon television series or manga are the sole property of the author, Taerir, copyright 1999. No duplication is permitted without written permission from the author.

Ami sat in the café, calmly waiting for the others to arrive. Her mind wandered slightly, wondering what it was that had still been making Asami so upset. She had always been attached to the girl in the past, and had to admit that she was particularly worried, this time.

Rei arrived next, closely followed by Minako and Makoto. Usagi skipped in last, pouring out excuses for being late, before she realized that Asami hadn't arrived yet.

"Shut up, Usagi," Rei snapped. "For once, you're okay." She sighed. "I wonder why Asami called this meeting..."

Moments later, Asami walked in, side by side with Kensaku. Smiling weakly, she took a seat in the booth.

"So, Kensaku told me you all stopped by last night," Asami said nervously, feeling embarrassed.

Ami smiled, wishing she could calm Asami's nerves. She knew there was nothing she could do, though, until Asami said whatever it was she had to say.

Rei spoke up. "Yeah, we did. So what's going on, Asami? I take it that last night is part of why you called this meeting..."

Asami sighed. "Yeah. This is kind of important, to me, at least. First... You all remember mainly what happened in our past lives, right? This may not make sense otherwise."

"We all remember some of it," Ami affirmed, cringing. "It's not exactly pleasant, though."

Asami smiled sadly at Ami. "No, it wasn't very happy, was it? But there's something I have to say about it..." Asami swallowed hard, and felt Kensaku's comforting arm around her waist. "You all know that I died before you in the past. Well, there's more to it than that..."

"You all have never seen our real enemy right now-- the one who gives Midori her commands. But his name is Kado, and he was an independent ally of Beryl and Metallia in the past. He was pretty desperate to win their regard, and would have done anything for the cause."

Asami paused before continuing. This next part would be the hardest for her. "To this end, he kidnapped me and extracted some of my memories, to give Metallia an advantage. Afterwards, he returned me to you, and you never knew what happened..."

Asami swallowed thickly once again, crying as she spoke. "Then, after... after Keelan died, (author's note: Kensaku in his past life) I got myself killed. One of the soldiers had an illusion to make him look like Keelan. I fell for it and died on his sword. I failed you all, and my team of the other Gate senshi. With one more senshi, you all might have survived. It's my fault the rest of you died, too."

"That means I betrayed you and the Gate senshi twice...once when I didn't guard myself against Kado, and once when I got myself killed. I won't mind if you never want to see me again."

A grave silence followed. Tears rolled down Asami's cheeks, and she had to fight to keep sobs from wracking her body.

"I understand," she said painfully. "I'll go now..."

She got ready to leave, taking a long last look at the faces of the senshi who once were her friends. Kensaku tightened his hand around her waist as she tried to rise, soothing her and urging her to take her time.

"Oh, Asa-chan, don't go..." Usagi whispered, in a rare moment of clarity. "It's not your fault. You did what you did for love and faith, that's all."

Ami stared at Asami. So this was what had been upsetting the older girl so much.

"We don't blame you for anything," she said quietly. "We all made mistakes back then, and the enemy forces were too strong for us. You didn't do anything to betray us intentionally; anything you did do was solely because of Kado. If you want to be forgiven, you have all of our forgiveness. But it's not your fault." Surprised at her little monologue, she blushed, but smiled at Asami encouragingly anyway.

Asami smiled wearily at Ami. She knew that Ami was the most likely person to accept her, because the two understood each other so well.

"Thank you, Ami...it means a lot to me," Asami replied gratefully, still tearful but a little less out of control. She saw the others nodding as well, and closed her eyes in relief. They wouldn't reject her after all. She grinned, and tears of happiness replaced the tears of pain.

"Thank you everyone..." she said aloud. "You don't know how relieved I am... You all make me feel so much better." She sighed. While she knew that she would always feel part of the blame, she also knew that she could now live with it and have a chance for happiness. She smiled again at the other senshi and leaned into Kensaku's arms.

Later, as Ami headed home, she continued to smile slightly, glad Asami had the courage to tell them what was wrong. She knew the girl would never completely stop blaming herself, but after bearing the pain for so long, that was to be expected.

But what about these enemies? If Kado has returned, then we're going to need to be careful...

Ami sighed. She stopped cold, finding Midori facing her, not ten paces away.

"Well, how about that? A little senshi all alone," Midori sneered. "Don't you know it's dangerous out here? And I'm back to full power, too."

Ami gasped. "What are you talking about?"

Midori chuckled. "You can't fool me, Mercury." The woman began gathering her powers to her.

Ami ducked behind a building frantically and called the other senshi.

"Mercury Crystal Power, Make Up!"

Super Sailor Mercury stepped out from behind the building. "We won't let you succeed!" she cried, and prepared her attack. She sent her Mercury Aqua Rhapsody hurtling toward Midori, only to see the enemy step out of the way.

"Not enough, little senshi," Midori laughed. "Try mine on for size."

Mercury yelled as a blast of dark energy came rushing toward her too fast to avoid. She was blown backwards, and groaned with pain as the back of her head collided with the wall of a building.

Dazedly, Mercury looked to her side just in time to see the other senshi, including Sailor Taerir, arrive. She sighed with relief before losing consciousness.

Eternal Sailor Moon glared at Midori. "You won't get away with this."

Midori growled. "Oh really? I happen to think I will." She pressed her hands together, forming an even larger mass of dark energy.

Quickly, Jupiter threw her own attack in an attempt to negate the dark energy. Sailor Venus followed up with her own attack, and Sailor Mars rushed Midori, knocking her onto the ground.

Sailor Moon pulled her own strength together. "Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss!"

Midori howled as the attack hit her, but did not die. Sailor Taerir, silent up to this point, cast one last backward glance to the unconscious Mercury and then turned her gaze to Sailor Moon. She closed her eyes and called her Staff to her.

"If I give you more power, can you try it again?" she asked.

Sailor Moon nodded breathlessly, and Sailor Taerir drew her own energy and drew it through the staff, into her fellow senshi.

Newly-empowered, Sailor Moon once more sent her attack flying in Midori's direction. Painfully, Midori screamed as she had never screamed before and flashed into oblivion, leaving only dust in her place. As the senshi watched, wind scattered the dust across the sidewalk.

Sailor Taerir clutched her staff more tightly and crossed to kneel by Sailor Mercury.

"Gods, Mercury, why didn't you just wait for us?" she whispered. But she knew why Mercury hadn't waited, because she would have done the same. She closed her eyes and let more power flow into her, touching her free hand to Mercury's forehead. As she did so, her clothing changed until she stood garbed as the Guardian of the Staff, in her gown. Feeling a mixture of dark pain and sacred bliss, Asami concentrated her energies. Mercury's wounds healed, and Mercury opened her eyes and breathed deeply.

Sailor Taerir watched the girl worriedly. "Are you alright?"

Sailor Mercury smiled. "Yes, I am now... Thank you. I told you that you had nothing to feel guilty about."

Taerir laughed gently and the senshi detransformed and parted. Asami rejoined Kensaku, who had stood back at Asami's request, and the senshi all headed home.