"So… what? Did you just come here to talk?" Minako asked cautiously. I've been trying to buy time, but I just can't predict what she's going to do next.

"I came to ask you something," Psyche answered, suddenly serious.

Minako did a small bow, making a show of it. "Happy to oblige."

"Why did you do it?" she asked, her voice sounding almost desperate.

Minako didn't understand the question. She tried to quickly piece together the memories she had with what Psyche had told her, but she couldn't come up with an answer. What does she think I did? She chose to remain silent.

Psyche was clearly getting more and more upset. "Don't tell me you don't remember. How could you forget?"

Psyche raised her hand in the air, and Minako could tell that she was about to transform. She quickly reached into her pocket, intending to pull out Adonis' card. But it was nowhere to be found. Adonis isn't a sprit attached to that card anymore… maybe that means I can't borrow his power now either. What am I going to do?

The transformed Psyche stood before her, wearing the outfit Minako had gotten so accustomed to. It was still unsettling to see someone else taking on her role. It's not that I took it for granted… there were times when I couldn't transform before. But this is different… she stole Venus from me.

"Minako!" a voice called from the distance. Both Minako and Psyche turned to see Sailor Moon running toward them, and the other Senshi appearing behind her. "Are you alright?"

"No, this isn't right!" Psyche cried. "You shouldn't be here. Why do you still support her? She kept things from you, didn't tell you the truth, and that got you into danger. You should hate her! Why…"

Usagi smiled softly, glancing over at Minako. "We're close enough friends to understand that when things are kept from us, there's a reason for it. We all trust Minako and her judgment."

Funny, because I don't even trust my own judgment anymore. Psyche's right. Why do they have so much faith in me?

Minako could see the fury and confusion in Psyche's eyes. She swiftly pulled off the chain around her waist and as it glowed it lengthened, becoming a sword. "Get away!" she screamed, sending blasts of energy toward the Senshi at every swing of her sword.

They tried to dodge her attacks, but she was good—she was far too fast for them. Her movements look so much like my own… where did she learn how to use my abilities like that?

Minako's head ached and a flicker of memory suddenly came to her:

"You're improving, but you need to swing harder. If you're using this technique it means that you're desperate to win—so you have to put your all into it."

"You make it sound so easy! I thought I was putting all I had into it! It's so tiring."

"It'll be worth it someday."

She opened her eyes and returned to the real world, where the Senshi were struggling to fend of Psyche's advances. What was that memory? Was it really me who taught Psyche how to fight like this? Then a realization dawned on her. If these are moves that I taught, I should be able to predict them. I have an advantage over her. Once I stop her attacks, maybe we can get in a position to talk things out.

Minako, who had been standing rather still throughout the battle, unsure of how to proceed without any special powers, ran directly in front of Psyche, blocking her view of the others. Minako stood her ground, waiting calmly as Psyche rushed toward her with her sword held high in the air.

She closed her eyes. One… Two… Three! Just as Psyche was directly in front of her, she crouched and dodged the attack completely, ending up behind Psyche before she even realized what happened. She wrapped her arms around Psyche from behind and pulled the sword right out of her hands.

"You still don't put enough force into your swings," Minako said, smirking. Or maybe it's that she really doesn't want to do this…

"I don't need any tips from you," was all Psyche said, panting.

Still with Psyche locked in her grip, Minako decided to take a chance and use this opportunity to talk. "Psyche… I mean, Kagami. That's your name now, just as my name isn't Venus anymore. Please… talk to me. What I saw just now shows me that you did take something away from our time together as sisters. So tell me: what is it that you think I did? What is it that you can't forgive, can't move past?"

Psyche struggled to get free of her sister's grip, but failed. Finally she exhaled heavily, exasperated. "How could you forget something like that? If it meant so little to you, then you truly never were my sister."

"Well, I won't be able to tell you whether that was the case or not until you tell me what it is," Minako sighed, starting to fell disappointed that she still had to hold her sister like a criminal.

"You killed him. Cupid. He's dead. I guess he was never reborn, since he died before the fall of the Moon Kingdom. So now, you tell me," she turned her head around just enough that Minako could see her sharp eyes gleaming. "Why did you do it?"

When Minako heard these words, she was shocked. She loosened her grip on Psyche and took a few steps back—though she still kept the sword in her hands, maybe out of habit. Is the worst that I feared really true? Could I have done something like that?

"That can't be true," Rei answered for her. "Minako would never do something like that. Not now, and not in the past life. I am absolutely sure of this."

"That's right," Usagi said, and the other girls all nodded in agreement. "That's not something our Minako would do."

"How can you be so sure? How can you trust each other so much?" Psyche asked as she fell to her knees, pounding her fists into the pavement. "He left me a letter… told me that he was going to confront Venus. And it said…" she paused, holding back tears, "that if he didn't return, then I shouldn't doubt that he had failed and had been killed at her hands."

"That's not proof!" Rei exclaimed. "A letter is not fact. He could be deceiving—"

Minako held up her hand, and stopped Rei from continuing to speak. Her eyes, full of pity, glanced at Psyche, and then at Rei. Love is blind, after all. She believed every word he said. Even over the words of her sister.

"It's all the proof I ever needed," Psyche replied to Rei's comment, but she didn't look as sure as she sounded. She cradled her head in her hands, rocking back and forth on the hard ground. As she did so, her transformation came undone.

The sword in Minako's hand disappeared, and before her a helpless middle school student was slumped on the ground. Now we're on even footing. Just two girls. But I'm so used to fighting, do I know how to deal with a situation like this?

….

Adonis waited inside for hours until even Minako's parents started to worry. He offered to go outside and look for her, relieved at the opportunity to return to Minako's side without feeling that he had betrayed her. He found Minako just standing and staring at the girl who sat on the ground crying.

Minako looked up and smiled when she saw Adonis.

"Yo," he said.

Every time I see him, he seems to get more and more human. Just like he used to be… but it makes me scared. It reminds me of the time that he betrayed me. Just as Cupid did for Psyche. Her eyes widened as she realized how she could approach the situation at hand.

Minako walked over to Psyche—to Kagami—and knelt beside her. At first she lifted her arm as if to wrap it around Kagami's shoulders, but she stopped herself. We're definitely not ready for that yet. "Let me tell you a story… It's about love, betrayal, and loss."

Adonis smiled melancholically as Minako looked over at him. He nodded, as if giving Minako permission to tell her story.

"It began when I was thirteen," she began. "I didn't ask for this life, having to risk my life and defend justice, but I took it on just the same. It didn't take long before I was enjoying myself, and falling in love at every corner. But there was one person who was different…"