"This is all so ridiculous...! My mother is like, eight years older than me, Michelle's trying to kill me, and I'm probably never going to meet my father! This isn't right... I just wanted to live a remotely normal life and maybe spend it with Rebecca. Man, what am I going to say to people, my mother looks very young for her age?" Karen complained as she lay on the couch.

Peruru was standing near the couch, eyes focused on Karen. He said nothing in reply to her comment, partly hurt from what he had heard. Karen hadn't noticed, she was too busy being angry and upset. At first, fighting Michelle sounded crazy, now she wanted more than anything to fight her. Michelle didn't deserve forgiveness after what she had to everyone. And especially for what she did to Rebecca and Amara.

"Part of me can't wait to fight Michelle... but if I do... It's just not fair to Amara."

"That doesn't change the fact we have to fight her." Peruru debated.

"I know and I have no problem with it. I just can't stand to see Amara hurt..."

"She'll be okay, I know you know that."

Karen sat up and glanced up at Peruru, blushing slightly. "I guess you're right... By the way, thanks for helping me out earlier."

Peruru joined her on the couch and held her hands in his. "I would never forgive myself if I let something happen to you. You mean too much to me..."

Karen stared at him, completely speechless and turning bright red. She felt like turning away and giggling like a little girl, but she didn't. Silence grew as they sat contentedly gazing into each others eyes. She felt her heart pound violently as he leaned closer. His lips pressed against hers and they shared a sweet kiss. Karen closed her eyes, forgetting all of her worries for that single moment. Rebecca stepped into the room, instantly witnessing the scene. She stood shocked and watched them in awe. Peruru seemed to sense her presence and pulled away from Karen, his attention coming onto Rebecca.

Karen opened her eyes, somewhat disappointed it didn't last long. "What's...?" Her eyes spotted Rebecca in the doorway. "Oh, no... Rebecca..."

Rebecca didn't speak, she just shook her head and hurried out of the room.

"Rebecca, wait...!" Karen quickly got off of the couch and chased after her. "I know I don't deserve to be forgiven, but I'm sorry...I don't know what I was doing... I'm just so confused...!"

"What about us? All of those things you said to me, were they all just lies?" Rebecca had halted, yet didn't turn to face Karen. "Karen, I don't want excuses, just tell me the truth."

"I am telling the truth... and everything I said was true. I want to be with you Rebecca, some part of me just gives into him and I'm just like any other vulnerable girl.."

"Maybe we aren't meant to be then..."

"Don't say that..!"

"I understand that you're going through some crisis and you need some time to sort out your feelings." She turned suddenly and approached Karen. "You need to understand that things might change between us while you're doing so... And that change might not be good, we could lose each other or end up together again. But I don't want to risk it, Karen, I don't want to lose you.... I love you."

The statement landed like a heavy blow, unpredictable and unavoidable as it had thrown Karen into surprise. "... Don't say that... we're just kids. You don't really mean.... you don't even understands what it means.... Don't say it."

"I know what I feel. There's no other feeling like it and I know you felt it too. The slightly mention of you causes my heart to skip a beat. I can't hide my feelings for you, I don't try to..."

"I don't know what to say..... could we just beat Michelle first...?"

"Sooner or later we're going to have to talk about this, just keep that in mind."

"This is it... the final battle..." Karen peered down the dark hallway, Michelle was waiting at the end of it. "We've been through so much to reach this point and this is where it all comes down to... This decides everything to me... my future, my life..."

"There's no turning back... we've come too far." Amara's voice called out from behind.

"Are you sure you want to do this...?"

"I wouldn't want it any other way."

"Kat, could you do me a favor?"

"What is it...?"

"I want to fight her, I have to."

"What?" Karen tired to think of a protest to Amara's idea. "You.... you can't...! Michelle has some freakish powers, you wouldn't stand a chance..!"

"That's why I need the wand back. I know I can beat her."

"But..!"

"She has an advantage over you..."

"What about you..? You've never had to fight against her before."

"I guess that's something I'll have to deal with."

"I'm just not so sure about this..."

"Trust me, Kat, I'm not going to let you down."

Karen nodded and slowly pulled her wand out of her pocket.

"She's not going to hold back anything, you know. You'll need to do the same if you want to win."

"You don't have to worry about me, I don't plan to go easy on her." Amara was now beside Karen, transformed and grasping the Space Sword in her hand. "How'd you get them to agree with your plan?"

"They actually wanted to give it a try. Serena thinks it'll be enough to get rid of the Witches and maybe the clones..." Karen sighed and showed an uneasy expression.

"Something wrong?"

"No, just thinking..."

"She'll forgive you, I know she will."

Karen looked up at Amara. "You know about that?"

"Everyone does... except Serena."

"That doesn't surprise me."

"... This is it, ready?"

"No, but let's go."

"You're going to tell her, aren't you?" Apollo followed Karen into the living room.

"Tell who what?" Karen questioned, taking random sips from her soda can.

"I know how you feel about Rebecca..."

Karen choked on her drink, letting out several coughs to clear her throat. "... What..?"

"Don't bother trying to hide it, it's obvious."

"You're a cat, what do you know?"

Apollo smiled evilly and trotted pass his owner. "Hey Rebecca."

Karen spun around instantly, relieved when she saw no one there. "... Hey!"

Karen and Sailor Uranus raced down the hallway, their feet stomping on the floor in unison as they got closer to the room at the end. A shadow stepped out of the darkness, blocking the duo's path.

"Well, I was hoping for a better turn out. If there's only two of you, this will be surprisingly easy." Byruit covered her mouth with a hand as she cackled.

"If it isn't the missing Witch, I was beginning to think they threw you out." Karen mocked and folded her arms over her chest. "Oh, and we aren't alone..."

"Neptune Deep Submerge!" The blast tossed Byruit into a nearby wall and Neptune and Susan approached Karen from behind.

"The others aren't too far behind." Susan announced, a little wiped out from running.

"Just remember, we have to distract her long enough for them to power up and get the attack ready." Karen warned, getting a few nods in return. "No turning back now, we have to do this."

Karen began to walk, the other three following closely. She lead them out of the hallway and into a pitch black room. Silence echoed in the darkness, the lack of noise starting to bother Karen. It was quiet, too quiet... Suddenly, a small flash of light was seen out of the corner of her eye. Karen ignored it for the moment and continued on. After another few steps, a shadow emerged from the lightlessness and attacked Karen. She felt something cut her face and she let out a pained cry, covering her right eye with her left hand. The lights instantly came on, revealing the enormity of the chamber.

"Karen!" Neptune rushed over to her friend's aid after noticing her injured condition.

"You should have saw that coming, Karen." Michelle stood feet away, holding a reaper scythe in hand and wearing the cloak again with the hood down.

"Is that supposed to be some kind of sick pun?" Karen glared with her remaining eye.

"Well... now that you mention it..." The reply came with a mocking grin.

"You know Michi... the dark and scary look just isn't you." Neptune remarked, also giving Michelle a hateful look.

Michelle disregarded the comment and brought her attention onto Sailor Uranus. The two had a stare-down for a few moments and then nodded slightly. Karen watched as they began to fight; they were evenly matched. She finally took note to the remaining Witches and a few clones some distance away. They were waiting and Karen hoped they wouldn't get a chance to take any action. Neptune gave her a tug on her shirt sleeve and the wounded tomboy glanced over her shoulder. Rini had come out of the hallway and gave them a thumbs-up.

Karen sighed and observed Michelle and Uranus again. The plan called for Michelle being floored long enough for the blast to hit her. That way, she had zero chances of miraculously dodging it. Karen's free hand formed a fist as she watched the battle. Unexpectedly, an orb of yellow light escaped her palm and flew at Michelle, knocking her onto the floor. Uncountable gasps were uttered and Karen became the center everyone's attention.

Karen just turned back to Rini and yelled, "Now!"

Serena and her gang, as Sailor Scouts, entered the room and did some poses. "Sailor... Planet... Attack!"

Uranus jumped out of the way in time to dodge the attack as Michelle and her flunkies were hit. Huge pieces of rubble and ceiling fell down and an enormous cloud of dust covered the area.

"Did it work?" One of the Inners questioned.

"No time to check..." Karen answered, seeing and feeling the place beginning to fall apart. "I hope you five have enough energy to run..."

"There's nothing left... the Witches and the clones must have been destroyed..." Amy stated.

"What about...?" Serena started an inquiry.

"We aren't sure..."

Rebecca exited the living room and headed upstairs. She strolled down the hallway and went into Amara's room. The tall blonde sit on her bed with her legs crossed Indian style as she examined a photo album. Rebecca inched over to the bed and joined Amara, who momentarily glanced up at her. A picture of Amara carrying Rini on her book caught the mini sea goddess' eye.

"What's that?" She pointed at the image.

"Birthday party... I forgot to get her a present..." The reply caused a giggle to escape Rebecca's mouth.

That wasn't the photo Amara was concentrating so hard on however. She and Michelle were hugging and smiling at each other instead of the camera. It must have been secretly taken by Serena or Mina. Then Amara must of found out about it and took away from them... Rebecca frowned, they were so happy together... there was nothing else they could have wanted more.

"They couldn't find her." The statement was a hoarse whisper.

"I'm not sure if I want them to, maybe it's better this way."

"Maybe... is Karen going to be okay?"

Amara flashed the younger girl a weak smile. "Well..."