Good Morning! (or afternoon, or evening...) I'm back! I would apologize for the insanely long time it took for me to upload, but there really wasn't a god enough reason. I mean sure I've been dealing with graduation and everything (I'm officially a High School Graduate!), but I still feel bad for not uploading sooner. But don't worry, there's no way on earth I'm ever giving up this story! (*applause*)

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and/ or followed and/ or Favorited! You make my heart soar! :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my character Korina!

'Of all the times you could have come and visit, why did you have to choose this one?' Korina's thoughts constantly buzzed, leaving her no room to sort out a plan. Despite her heart pounding in her chest, she did her best to keep a gathered, professional composure.

Prince Diamond towered over her petite form, a dark glint of power sparking in his eyes. He turned towards the sleeping form of Princess Serenity, prepared to make the jump into her dreams, when Korina finally forced herself to say something.

"W…wait, Prince!" She stuttered over her own words. An anxious chill ran down her spine as Diamond fixed his cold eyes on her.

It wasn't hard to see the Prince's anger shadowing his face. Korina swallowed the lump in her throat, knowing that she was the root of his anger, but also knowing that it was completely necessary for the mission.

The young nurse scrambled for something believable to spit out, anything that would stall him in the least. "Sir… Putting extra strain on the Princess's body and mind may not be wise. It's, uh… difficult to keep her stable with the consistent interruptions in dream waves." She checked over the story in her mind, praying that there weren't blaring holes in it.

The slightest hint of confusion passed through his features, before the mask of anger returned. His eyes narrowed in thought. "Are you accusing me of 'interrupting her dreams'?" He asked, his voice oddly calm.

Korina felt her throat go dry. She opened her mouth to deny it when he spoke again.

"My visits are what keep her dream together. It is my power, my influence that constructs the beautiful world she lives in and keeps her mind occupied."

She nervously cast a glance towards the Princess, unsure of what to say next.

Prince Diamond let out a low chuckle. "You didn't know that, did you?"

Korina didn't answer, momentarily lost in her thoughts. 'How could I not know that? I'm supposed to know everything about this!' Her eyes followed the trail of tubes carrying what she thought were hallucinogens. Apparently she had been sorely mistaken.

Realizing that he was waiting for a response, Korina cleared her throat. 'Think of a better reason.' Her thoughts spat at her bitterly.

Choosing to ignore the Prince's last comment, she tried another route. "Serenity's consciousness has been close to the surface recently… I fear that being exposed to something that is real will increase her chances of waking up too soon."

"Well, that's what you're here for, is it not?" Diamond shrugged.

Korina blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Your job is to keep her asleep." He said simply, before his tone took on a more threatening note. "If you are incapable of doing that, then perhaps it would be best if I replaced you."

"I understand, Prince." She said through clenched teeth. Part of her was screaming, trying desperately to understand why he would want her sedated so heavily. 'Does he want her to ever wake up again?!'

A moment of silence passed before Diamond turned to Serenity again. A faint glow started sparking in front of his third eye as he concentrated his power.

Panic coursed through Korina for a split second. However, that split second was enough to overwhelm her common sense, something she tried so hard to keep in check. She took a few steps towards the Prince, who stood with his back to her.

Just before Diamond could disappear into the dreams of his bride to be, something deep inside Korina just had to force her to open her damn mouth.

"But, you can't…!" She started to say.

The Prince froze for an instant at the nurse's words before whirling to face her, cutting off whatever she was going to say next. He saw her eyes widen the smallest bit as his hand flew out towards her, making contact with her cheek with a satisfying smack.

The sudden pain stunned Korina into silence. She caught her balance before she could fall, and now stood with her left shoulder towards him. 'You will not cry. You will not show him weakness.' Her mind chanted over and over again as she stared hard at the floor. Both hands clenched into fists, nails digging into her palms.

"How dare you." Diamond seethed. "How dare you try and tell me what I can and cannot do."

Korina found herself thankful that her long lavender bangs hid him from her view.

"I expect you to not make that mistake again." A sort of pulse of power emitted from him, and Korina knew she was once again alone with the sleeping Princess.

She remained frozen to her spot, half expecting him to reappear again, and let out a shaky breath. Slowly, she brought her hand up to press against her face, relishing in the feeling of her cold palm on her stinging cheek.

'You will not cry.' Her mind continued. 'You will not show weakness.'

"Helios…" She whispered, looking up at Serenity. "If you get hurt in there, I will never forgive myself."

A strange clenching feeling tightened in her chest, and she felt the smallest of tears run down her cheeks.

There was no way of knowing if Diamond had found him. All she could do was wait.

"Amana?" Serenity's voice broke the silence around them. She sounded thoughtful, almost confused, as she watched her handmaiden slowly twist her silver hair into a braid.

The older lady paused, studying her poor attempt at braiding, and looked up to meet the Neo Queen's eyes in the mirror. "Yes, my Queen?" She asked. "Is something wrong?"

Serenity stared at her for a long moment before shaking her head. "I was going to ask you the same thing. You seem bothered by something."

'If only you knew…' Amana thought sadly. She returned to the task at hand, both girls slipping back into their thoughts. 'How do I get her to remember?'

Amana knew that she needed to gently nudge Serenity in the right direction. Once before, when she had tried to outright tell her that she couldn't remember the real world, Serenity had simply gotten upset and refused to listen.

But then there was last time.

"Lady Serenity…" She paused, unsure of what to say next.

The Queen waited for her to continue.

"Have you seen the scouts recently?"

"Well, of course! Venus and Mercury ate with us earlier, and we saw Mars on our way here. I also saw Jupiter this morning, just after breakfast." She answered, giving Amana an incredulous look. "I see them all the time."

Amana tilted her head to the side, as if waiting for her to continue. Her hands absently ran through Serenity's hair, pulling out the half-braid that was there.

Serenity's lips pursed. "Is something the matter? Did something happen?"

"No, no… that's not it." Tearing her eyes away from Serenity's blue ones, Amana focused on her own hands, twisting strands of silvery hair through her fingers. "I was hoping you would keep going."

Now the Queen just looked confused. She counted on her fingers each of the four scouts, mouthing their names as she counted them, and repeated it once on each hand.

Amana fell silent. 'Here goes nothing…' She pulled another chair closer and took a seat, now eye level with the younger girl. "What about the other scouts?"

Serenity blinked, looking up from her hands. "What other scouts?"

A wave of nerved hit Amana, freezing her before she could say any more. Was this too forward? Too big of a memory? 'I can't afford to scare her with these memories… I'm not going to have many more opportunities.'

"What other scouts?" Serenity repeated, a hint of urgency lacing her voice.

Swallowing her worries, Amana forced herself to spit it out. "The outer scouts. Where are the outer scouts?"

She was met with a blank expression.

Serenity stared at her, all emotion drained from her face, as if Amana was speaking a completely different language.

"You know… Sailor Saturn and Sailor Pluto?" Amana nudged. "Uranus and Neptune?"

"Uranus and Neptune…" Serenity mumbled the names, her eyes flashing to the open window across the room. "There is no Sailor Uranus. There is no Sailor Neptune." She said mechanically.

"What about Sailor Pluto? She's the Time Guardian. Of course she…"

"There is no Sailor Pluto." Serenity gently interrupted in the same programmed voice as before.

Amana bit her lip, trying to find a way to remind her. 'Maybe if I just start talking about them, as if they're here all the time…?'

She picked up the round brush from the vanity and began to brush through the Princess's hair again.

"Sailor Uranus said that she and Neptune – Michiru – would be back soon after the concert. Michiru works wonders on her violin; her music is so beautiful."

Serenity was silent, staring straight ahead. She looked as though she was in a trance; eyes wide, breathing deeply, completely motionless.

Amana dared to keep going. "Haruka was talking about their tour around the world. She said they have several concerts in Europe and North America, and she was hoping they would find spare time to 'cruise the countryside', as she put it."

Of course, such 'concert tours' didn't exactly happen in modern Crystal Tokyo, but hopefully Serenity wouldn't notice.

The Queen remained frozen, staring a million miles away.

"Serenity, are you okay?" Amana stopped brushing, suddenly concerned about her princess's state. She held her breath for an answer when she realized that she could hear something. Something that sounded like music.

She leaned over, closer to Serenity, and nearly gasped when she realized that she was humming. It was a soft tune, short and sweet, and kept blending into itself in an endless loop. There was something hypnotic about the way Serenity hummed it, hypnotic and very familiar.

Amana recognized it. It was a tune she had only heard once or twice before, but there was no doubt in her mind as to where it came from. It was Michiru's favorite song – one she played on her violin all the time.

"You remember," Amana whispered. "Please, remember more!"

But the loop kept repeating in its never ending cycle.

"What are you humming?" She asked innocently, trying to get a response out of the dazed Queen.

Serenity didn't answer.

Placing her hand on Serenity's shoulder, Amana gently shook her. "Princess?"

Still nothing.

Icy shards of panic were starting to settle, more and more with each passing second of silence. "Serenity, wake up!" She firmly grabbed her other shoulder, shaking her a tad harder. "Snap out of it!"

The humming continued, not a beat missed.

Amana nervously glanced at the Queen's door, still tightly shut. "Usagi, listen to me… you have to break free of Diamond's control! You have to remember your life before all of this happened! Remember Mamoru, and Haruka, and Hotaru… and Chibiusa…" Her voice cracked at the very end, no matter how hard she tried to stop it.

Serenity didn't respond. She kept humming her tune, lost in her trance.

Every second felt like hours to Amana, helplessly watching her Princess. She felt so close to winning, so close to getting Usagi back, but the increasing anxiety easily eclipsed it.

"Korina… What do I do?" She whispered to herself.

Suddenly, Serenity hiccupped.

The Princess blinked several times, bringing her delicate fingers to her lips. "Oh… excuse me," She muttered. Her blue eyes came back into focus, falling on the distraught Amana. "Amana? What's wrong?"

The older lady stared back at Serenity, stunned into silence herself. "What's… wrong?" She repeated blankly. "I… are you okay, my Queen?"

"I'm fine…? Are you feeling well, Amana? You haven't been acting like yourself lately." Serenity brushed a bang out of her eyes before neatly folding her hands in her lap, as if nothing had even happened moments ago.

Suddenly aware of her pounding heart, Amana took a moment to find her bearings. She rose shakily to her feet and crossed the large room in silence, aware of Serenity's blue eyes fixed on her back. Taking a deep breath, she turned back to the Princess with somewhat of a smile plastered on her face. 'I can't lose the memory now.' She told herself.

"What was that song you were humming? It was quite lovely." She asked, forcing herself to take slow, casual strides back towards Serenity.

Serenity blinked. "Was I humming?"

Stiffly, Amana nodded.

"Oh, well I suppose it was some nonsense tune. I can't even remember it, to be honest with you." Blue eyes turned towards the mirror in the vanity, a tinge of sadness dulling their usually brilliant shine.

"I see." Amana breathed. Just like that, she felt her heart fall. For a second, it was almost as though she was going to break through the shield around her and find the real Usagi, but again the grasp that Diamond had on the Princess prevailed.

For the first time, a horrifying thought settled uneasily in Amana's stomach. 'Is this even possible? Do we even stand a chance against Diamond?'

Before she could say anything else, a sharp pain pulsed once through her head. As brief as it was, it still left Amana gasping for breath. She whipped her head towards the window and quickly closed the distance to it, peering down at the castle grounds below.

"He can't be…" She whispered, not wanting to believe it for a second. But that feeling was undeniable.

Prince Diamond was here.

Amana glanced towards Serenity, whom had turned her attention back to the crystalline hairpieces and jewelry strewn across the vanity, among them the ornate crown that normally adorned her head.

"Excuse me, Lady Serenity," She murmured, nearly flying across the room to the door. She couldn't simply disappear in front of Serenity, just in case the Princess accidentally said something about it to Diamond.

'Dear Selene, don't let him be out there…' Amana prayed, slipping through the door and into the thankfully empty hallway. She wasted no time focusing her energy on the open folds of the dream, and with a golden flash disappeared from the distorted reality.

RE4

Korina sat as stiff as a statue, her eyes never leaving Serenity save for a few nervous glances at her heart monitor.

Ten minutes had felt like forever.

She vaguely remembered a conversation she'd had with Helios once about how warped time was in a dream. He had said it was something about a person's perception of time – and not the actual passing of time itself – that accounted for it.

Of course, the entire thing made no sense to Korina. Just about the only thing she had gathered was a minute of time awake was equivalent to almost twice longer in a dream.

So, it had been twenty minutes since Diamond entered her dream? Should Helios be out by now? Since he wasn't, did it mean he had gotten caught? Or did it mean he was evading?

Either way, not knowing was killing Korina. Her fingers drummed absently on the bottom of the stool, as she not so patiently waited for something, anything, to happen.

Finally, a golden aura manifested in the air between Korina and Serenity, and the heavy anxiety quickly eased. She stopped short of throwing herself towards the figure, even though it was just about the only thing she wanted to do in that moment. She instead awaited his arrival with a small, sad smile plastered on her face.

"How did it go?" Korina asked lightly.

Helios stared at her for a moment. "What happened?"

"That's what I'm asking." She shrugged.

He shook his head. "No, that's what I'm asking you. What happened?"

Scarlet eyes met gold ones for a long moment. She sighed. "I'm sorry, okay? He wouldn't listen to anything I said and insisted on visiting her dreams. I don't have any way of contacting you, so I couldn't…"

"That's not what I'm talking about." Helios cut her off, taking a few short strides closer to her. He reached out and lightly brushed his fingers on Korina's left cheek.

Even the light pressure was enough to make her wince. She quickly recovered, pushing his hand away. "It's nothing." Korina insisted, glancing at her reflection in the metal tray on the table besides her. Although there wasn't any bruising, her cheek was very red and the area around her cheekbone had puffed up slightly.

"It's not nothing." Helios scowled as he leaned closer to her, inspecting the red mark. "He hit you."

"Well, sure…" Korina murmured. "But I can handle it. I'm not a baby."

He brought his hand up again, and Korina resisted the urge to push it away as he traced the outline of the mark, brushing her long bangs out of the way.

"We can't worry about it now." Tilting her head so her bangs fell in front of her eye again, Korina turned towards her friend. "There's nothing we can do about it anyway."

"Maybe not right now." Helios said, his eyes never leaving her cheek. "Not right now."

Korina couldn't help but stare at him incredulously. 'You've changed so much since I first met you…' She thought. Gone was the kind-hearted boy, the sole protector of dreams. The pure warmth he'd held in his eyes was nowhere near as welcoming now. Now, his eyes were filled with a fierce determination that she'd never guessed he could possess.

"What are you staring at?"

"Oh! N… nothing." Korina stuttered, feeling her cheeks flush. "Nothing too important."

Helios chuckled, and for a moment Korina could see the old warmth return to his eyes. "You should get some rest." He said.

"You should, too." She whispered, "Who knows what tomorrow brings."

Helios nodded slowly. He held her gaze for a moment longer, and a look of hesitation passed over him. But then he gave a small smile, turning away from Korina. "Goodnight." He said, vanishing in a flash of golden light.

"Goodnight." Korina whispered to herself.

Phew! Finally got this chapter submitted! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! :)