It felt wrong to let go of his hand. She had lost him twice already, and very nearly a third time. If she hadn't been there to pull him out of the river, Ami was sure she'd have lost the will to go on. Leaving him in this state, she thought, would be a betrayal far worse than his.

Physically, Zoisite was fine. Spiritually, it would take some time. He still needed to heal. Rei did what she could to help, guiding his meditation. She gave all she had, but doing so meant she had to neglect Jadeite. And Jadeite needed her just as much, especially after his return from India. The journey had reopened old wounds. And his use of his powers to anchor Ami's new network was taxing his spirit as well. He needed to heal as well. All four men did. As did all four women.

But the world was cruel, and did not allow these special men and women to rest. They were Senshi and Shitennou, charged with protecting the new world. And that duty came first above all. Even love.

"Of course I'll help Ami-chan!"

Ami was confused. Minako was offering help. Not that it was particularly strange for Minako to offer help. She always seemed to give her best, even if the results were not always good. With everything going on, Ami was certain she could not afford to have Nurse Minako make another appearance. Least of all when she had no idea what Minako was offering to help with.

"Um, thank you very much Minako-chan, but-"

"But nothing! You need to go to Istanbul to take care of your computer thingy, but you don't want to leave Zoisite." Minako pulled the shy blunette closer and put her arm around her shoulder, continuing to gesture animatedly while continuing her explaination. "You'd ordinarily think Kunzite could take care of him, but you need to take him with you, and you don't want to force Rei-chan to leave Jadeite or Mako-chan to leave Nephrite."

Minako posed dramatically. "So naturally, it's Sailor V to the rescue!" she said as she flashed Ami a bright smile and her trademark V.

Ami blinked in stunned silence for a moment. "How did you…"

Minako tapped her nose. "You can't fool the goddess of love!"

Minako's smile was so bright, in a way Ami had not seen since before the last battle. She seemed much more like the girl Ami had known what seemed like a lifetime ago. She felt a lump form in her throat as she threw herself into her friend's arms and sobbed on her shoulder.

"Thank you so much Minako-chan!"

She felt Minako's arms wrap around her. "What're friends for?"

There truly was no skyline in the world like Istanbul. Modern skyscrapers, next to five-hundred year old mosques, next to thousand-year old cathedrals, all set on the Bosphorous. It was a symbol of how this place was a gateway, a transition from East to West, from Islam to Christianity, from Old World to New. It was a city that told the story of history, and how the world could change when Empires rose and fell, when new ideas took hold, and how war changed everything, but love could change it all the more.

Still, for Kunzite, the city told a much simpler story. The city, and the graves before him, told not the story of civilization and empire, but of something much greater. It told the story of his very heart and soul.

Young Kemal Baig grew up in this city a thousand years after the fall of the Moon Kingdom. He was a bright boy with great potential. However, his family was not of very high class. He would have trouble advancing.

That's when she came; the mysterious red-headed woman. She gave no name, and only said she was a special agent of the government. She was beautiful, elegant and refined. She scared Kemal, because despite her beauty, her eyes were cruel, and he could see poison in her smile.

She came to Kemal and said she had been watching him, and that she believed he had potential. She said that he was meant for greater things. In spite of his fear and mistrust, the words moved something in Kemal's spirit. Was this woman telling the truth? Were his dreams of grand castles and mighty armies not simply products of an overactive imagination? Was this feeling that he should be a leader of men not simply jealousy and insecurity? Did he truly have a destiny?

And so, against his better judgment, Kemal listened to the woman, and followed her orders. It seemed innocuous enough. Keep a diary. He was to write about what he observed his neighbors doing. It was a bit odd, but Kemal lived in a mixed neighborhood. His neighbors were mostly Kurds. Perhaps this woman wanted to know about Kurdish culture. So Kemal dutifully kept his journal, marking the day to day activities of the people around him. As time went on, she began to make more demands of him. More detailed reports were required. Before he even knew it, Kemal was spying on his neighbors, listening to conversations, and reporting anything that seemed suspicious.

He never knew how far gone he was until the police came to his neighbor's door. They dragged him out of his house. All the while, he protested his innocence. But the police loudly shouted the man was a traitor and a rebel sympathizer. His wife ran out the door trying to stop them, pleading with them to let her husband go. A crack from a policeman's baton, and she crumpled to the ground, and did not get up. The man began to struggle wildly. A gunshot sounded, and he too, fell to the ground.

Kemal was furious. But more than that, he was ashamed. His neighbors were innocent. They had done nothing other than complain about the government. He had betrayed them.

He wanted to tell the mysterious government woman that he was done, and he would not work for her anymore.

She told him that he had no choice. There was too much blood on his hands.

No one ever saw Kemal Baig again.

"Who were they?"

Ami was not an intrusive woman. Kunzite knew this. She was merely expressing curiosity and offering polite conversation. His anger must not be directed at her.

"They were my neighbors."

"What happened?"

"I betrayed them."

Three small words. It was, perhaps, an understatement. The act had cost him the soul he had lost and been given again a thousand years later. It may have all gone right this time if he did not betray these two. They were some of Chaos's first victims in this time. The empty city around them stood as testament to the billions of others.

Ami took Kunzite's hand. "You know she's forgiven you, right? We all have."

Kunzite breathed heavily. "Forgiveness does not erase the things that I've done. I don't know if anything can."

"No, we can't erase the things we've done. We can only move forward."

It was not a statement of forgiveness or comfort, merely a statement of fact. But it turned both of their attentions to a pair of blondes, half a world away. Ami was right. The past could not be undone. But the future remained to be lived. Neither of them could waver in their duty. To do so would be a betrayal to those they loved.