Author's Note: Please forgive spelling errors and such. I was forced to type this in WordPad on a laptop on an airplane, and I didn't have much time to edit. Forgive me!

"What's this all about, Serena?" Raye asked sleepily. Saturday was her day for sleeping in, lazing the day away, as her grandfather closed the temple on Saturdays. However, this morning, Serena had called a meeting of the Sailor Scouts. Raye thought that it must have been important, or else Serena would have been lazing about, as well.

"I'll tell you all in a moment," Serena said quietly. She seemed very serene and oddly composed. Looking at her, one might suppose that she had gathered the soldiers together to dicuss the weather over a few cups of green tea. The girls new better. Beneath the hollow disposition, there was a much deeper meaning than any of them really wanted to know.

Haruka stood with her arms crossed over her chest, looking away from all of them, trying to avert her gaze to anything but a pair of eyes. Michiru's head hung, her hair falling into her face. She looked much better than she had the previous night, Setsuna duly noted, but her fear and despair rang true. Darien looked rather distraught, but he tried to hide it without much success.

Setsuna stood with her chin up. She and Darien had been preparing themselves for the consequences the night before. They had been talking about what was to come and simply passing time until the hour struck the time when they would have to say goodbye.

The tension in Raye's small bedchamber was almost unbearable.

Serena looked at each of the girls in the room very slowly, her unusally sharp gaze piercing into each of them after the first. Finally, she rested her knowing gaze on Darien, sending him a look that said quite plainly, This is for the best, my love. And I do love you.

I know you do, his dark eyes replied, and the thought struck sheer sadness into his heart. Sadness and something else not so very far from horror. He glanced at Setsuna. She gave him a small, warm smile for which he was incredibly grateful.

"Chiharu was a menace who slipped in through the unguarded galaxy gates," Serena began. She spoke slowly, with much emphasis on every word. "I have decided that in order to protect the Galaxy from future attack, we must return the Outer Sailor Scouts to their posts."

Silence. Serena continued.

"Chiharu's entry into the Galaxy could have been well prevented, had the Sailor Scouts indeed been where they should have. They must go back. And Sailor Pluto will return to the Gates of Time."

Not a single person spoke. Those who directly affected had already known of their fate, and felt their was nothing left to say. All of them except Haruka. Her fists clenched, she said, "That's noble, Sailor Moon," her voice etched with bitter undertones of hatred. "What a noble decision of our Future Queen."

"I don't mind your blatant disrespect, Sailor Uranus," Serena said, a small, smug smile upon her pink lips. "It is to be expected, as you're being rudely ripped from your home and sent away. I understand, don't worry."

Haruka said no more, only gritted her teeth and grasped Michiru's arm.

"No!" Chibiusa suddenly cried. She broke from Amy's arms, with whom she had been sitting with, and ran to Setsuna. "Luna P! You can't go!"

Setsuna swept Chibiusa into her arms and hugged her tightly, doing all she could to ward off the threatening tears. "I must, Chibiusa. I have to."

"Come on, now, Rini. Say goodbye," Serena said quietly, her eyes closed.

"No!" Chibiusa began to wail, tears sliding down her cheeks. "You can't send her away, Serena! You can't!!"

Darien choked back a sob.

"Chibiusa..." Setsuna sturggled to pry her off and set her on the ground gently. Chibiusa protested vehemently with her cries.

"Let's go," Michiru said, snapping her head up. "Quickly." Haruka led her away, off toward the dock, where they would be departing. Setsuna followed closely.

"Luna P, NO!!" Chibiusa began to run after her, but Lita, who had not said a word through any of it, mostly in shock, grabbed her quickly and held her. Chibiusa began to scream. "Luna P! Luna P!! Luna P!!!!"

Setesuna, Michiru, and Haruka broke into a run toward the lake that stood in the middle of town. They darted down the streets in the suburbs, leading to the park. The three of them ran as fast as their feet would take them, and not one of the girls turned her head to look behind her. They reached the dock, all of them breathing heavily.

"Take it away, Setsuna," Haruka said breathlessly. Setsuna nodded. She held out her hand, and slowly, the Staff of Time glittered to visibility in her hand.

"Gates of Time!" She called into the daylight. Michiru stared off, looking listless.

"Setsuna!" Darien's voice. He was getting out of the car and starting toward them.

Setsuna ignored him. "Father Chronos, guardian of time, guide us to our rightful places," Setsuna could hear Dairen's voice calling out her name, getting closer and closer. Michiru, Haruka, and Setsuna joined hands. "Take us back to our posts!" Just as Darien reached them, they were englufed in a blinding white light, and he was forced to shield his face from the brightness with his arm. When the light faded, the girls were gone. They had vanished from sight. Darien had almost been able to brush the sleeve of Setsuna's shirt. He had almost felt the fabric slip thorugh his fingers. In fact, he thought he may have. She was gone, just like that. Setsuna had been taken away from him in a matter of minutes.

Chibiusa had been throwing a fit, and Dairen had watched the three Outer Sailor Scouts run off. He had stared after them a long time, even after Chibiusa had quieted a little and the other girls talked in hushed tones, trying to comfort her. While they did this, Dairen had jumped into his car and sped off to find Setsuna. As he had been getting into the car, he heard Mina call, "Darien!" and Serena had replied with, "Let him go," that same knowing tone in her voice that was somehow so terrible to him.

He stared now at the spot where three of the most noble warriors in the galaxy had been standing a mere moment before. It was over. The entire ordeal, all that they had worried about was over. Setsuna had lied to him, yet he didn't blame her. She couldn't tell her secrets. She spoke in riddles, and when she couldn't solve the riddle herself, she was forced to lie about them. The three of them were being practically banished because of what Serena knew was going on.

Oh, she may have pretended not to know, pretended to be unsure, but a woman's intuition was much stronger than Serena may have let on. She was proving it now by sending them away. Would she have gone to such extremities had she been so unknowing? Probably not. No, Darien thought, the answer is definitely not. Serena didn't just make decisions, and she always gave each at least a fraction of thought before making it. And here, she had made her choice, and she had exercised her power in the way that she had seen fit to do so. Sacrificing the good of many for the good of one, that was the way of the new Queen of the Silver Millennium.

Darien knew what he could do. He knew that there were more options. However, why would he throw his life away now? What would be the good of doing such a thing? Why had he come out here in the first place? Had he thought he would be able to stop Setsuna? Had he really thought he could chase her to the ends of the Universe? Those lonely Gates of Time, where she would stand guard and prevent the so-called invaders of time? What, really, had he been thinking?

Let your heart guide you, his mind scoffed. A bitter additive to the bitter end of he and Setsuna's love.

No... not the end.