Chapter 1

Usagi hummed to herself as she bounced her way up the stairs to their apartment.

 I am so glad I was able to get off early today – I can't wait to tell him!!

Humming to herself, she unlocked the door to the apartment, letting to door close itself behind her.

Hmmm…. Now, what to do first? Well, since I will be here getting things ready, I should put in a load of laundry. That doesn't require my supervision, and will get some of my cleaning out of the way so we can "sleep in" guilt-free tomorrow!

Heading into the bedroom, she stumbled over Mamoru's green jacket.

Odd…. He really must have been in a hurry this morning. …… What if he knows?!

 

After panicking for a moment, she remembered how careful she had been.

Naah. There is no way he could know yet. I only found out today…..

Continuing toward the bedroom, she draped the jacket over her arm.

I better hang this up…. He is so irritable if his jacket isn't perfect. Why he loved this old thing so much….. I mean, it's starting to fray at the cuffs!

At the bedroom door, she stopped.

Closed? That's odd…..

 From beyond the door, she heard a pained moan.

Wait – jacket on the floor…. Bedroom door closed…. Oh no! Mamo-chan probably has another of his migraines….. he never wants to be bothered then. But I should check on him. But what if he gets mad? Light makes it worse… If I open the door the light will get in.

After thinking this over for a minute, she walked around and closed all the blinds.

There. This way the light won't hurt his eyes. Oh, I hope it's not too bad – I really wanted to tell him tonight!

Slowly opening the door, she peaked inside to check that the light wasn't getting thru.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh!! MINA!!! YESSSSS!!!!!!"

Usagi, eyes wide, slowly closed the door.

Wha……..wha…..what……

She slowly backed away from the door. This wasn't happening! This couldn't be happening!!!

Oh, but it was.

Thinking quickly, feverishly, Usagi grabbed her purse off the kitchen counter and headed outside.

I need to think….. but where to go? Can't go to Crown – Andrew owns it now, so he'll be there, and he'll want to know why I am upset…. Maybe the park? Minna are at work right now…. Well, all except two of them……

Arriving at the park, Usagi headed off the trails and into the trees.

Ok. Think. Who can I trust…. Mina is the leader of the Inners – they are loyal to her. The Outers? Hmmm….. no. Aside from the fact that they hate me for dealing almost exclusively with the Inners, they follow Setsuna, who is still pissed that I locked the Time Gates to prevent Galaxia from accessing them and refused to re-open them. No one should know the future – and it was the only way to free her.

Mother's spirit moved on after the Sailor Wars. Luna and Artemis live with Mina now – no way they didn't know about this.

I have no one.

Oh, gods. I am alone.