"...we are gathered here today..." The words of the priest only reached her in distorted waves, tidbits of the eulogy that she couldn't bear to listen to. Her eyes were transfixed on the shaking shoulders of the woman in the front pew, both seeing and not seeing. Saeko Mizuno, Ami's mother, was an emotional wreck. The woman who had always been distant, strong, a busy doctor who inspired Ami's own dreams in the medical profession, was in pieces.

It's all my fault. Usagi closed her eyes and realized that the tears were rolling down her cheeks, one after the other. She felt someone squeeze her hand and knew it was Makoto, sitting on her left side. On her right, she could vaguely hear Minako's unsteady breathing as she tried to stifle her sobs with a handful of tissue. Rei wasn't there, something else she could take the blame for.

Time seemed to be reeling in an unnatural, yoyo-like way for her, speeding through and then slowing to a crawl. When she came to, she was standing in the cemetery. Most of the people who had attended the funeral were gone, or walking to their cars. Her blue eyes were still focused on the shoulders of Saeko Mizuno, no longer trembling as she faced the casket that was ready to be lowered into the ground.

Her feet carried her forward, in the same way they had carried her toward Makoto. She couldn't even recall how many days ago that had been now. The Usagi in the back of her mind was demanding to know what her body was doing. Saeko finally raised her head, looking at, or perhaps through Usagi with a pair of blue eyes that looked so much like Ami's.

She felt the softness of the grass and the cool press of dirt against her knees before she realized she was on them. Her hands reached out to clench the hem of Saeko's black skirt. Ami's blue eyes continued to stare down at her, blank, unreadable. "I'm so sorry."

How many times she said those three words, over and over before Makoto pulled her away, she couldn't recall. Saeko never acknowledged her, with hatred, or pain, or disgust, or anger. Just indifference, which some part of her felt was much more painful and cruel than anything else. When they finally made it back to the car, Usagi collapsed against the seat, empty.

xXx

Detective Tenchi Arashi leaned into his car as he watched the funeral procession move slowly and reluctantly across the cemetery. The blonde he was watching stuck out easily in the crown, and he followed her movements with his eyes.

He hadn't been brazen enough to risk attending the funeral itself; he would never want to intrude on the family's grief. But he observed Usagi Tsukino now, seated in the back row, stoic and still. His mind was reeling with thoughts of suspicion and doubt, though he couldn't figure which side had the upper hand.

Time went by as the crowd slowly dispersed, but the victim of his scrutiny remained, so he did too. Until finally she rose from her seat and stood. He felt himself tense, but she stood idle, in one spot, for the next few minutes.

Then she stepped forward, one foot, then another, like she was stuck in slow motion, until she made it to the form of Saeko Mizuno in the front row of chairs. Just like that the young woman collapsed to her knees, clutching at the woman's skirt, pleading. He couldn't hear the words from this distance, but he could guess what she was saying easily enough.

The blonde's taller friend finally came forward to pull her away. She practically carried the petite girl to the car and deposited her in the passenger seat. Tenchi watched them drive away, his thoughts as muddled as ever.

Could someone who seemed so harmless really be capable of coldblooded murder, then turn around and appear such a degree of miserable and apologetic? Supposing that the medical examiner's suspicion of a love affair was true, how did the new victim fit into the scenario? Had Mamoru Chiba made the rounds with all of Usagi Tsukino's friends?

He couldn't bring himself to believe it.

Yet he also couldn't figure what had drawn a psychopath to target Usagi Tsukino to begin with. She had no status, no wealth to speak of unless you included the insurance policy she now stood to gain due to her fiancé's death. She seemed well-liked. Her parents were ordinary working class people. She was average.

"This case is going to hell. I have no evidence and no profile for the killer." Tenchi sighed to himself as he pushed away from his navy blue sedan and fell into the driver's seat. He would have to figure out something soon, before the bodies continued to pile up.

xXx

Makoto eyed the redhead before her skeptically as he lifted Usagi easily into his arms. His face was impossible to read. "I'm only leaving her here because I think it's the safest place for her right now."

He studied her with his violet eyes, unmoved. Under different circumstances she might have been gushing over how handsome he was. Affectionately she recalled herself and Usagi in their high school days, knowing that the tall red-haired man would have been a prime target for their boy-crazy antics.

"We'll take care of her." Aya finally said when he noticed the brunette woman wasn't going anywhere, though she appeared to be lost in thought rather than waiting on him to respond. The words brought her back to reality, and she looked him over again before she smiled a bit.

"I don't know why I believe you when you say that. I'll hold you to it though." Makoto turned back toward her car to leave, but turned one more time with her eyes on the sleeping blonde, the green orbs laced with concern. "She needs someone to talk to. Usagi is the type of person who attracts the people around her, and as such, she's never alone. She can't be alone, now of all times. So if you say you'll take care of her, I hope you know what that means."

The tall woman got into her car and drove away, while Aya watched after her tail lights. When he began to feel the weight of Usagi growing heavier in his arms, he turned to go back inside. He deposited the sleeping girl in Omi's bed, her bed for the moment, and pulled the covers over her when she shivered. For a moment, he hovered there, unsure of what to do next. She can't be alone, now of all times.

Aya pulled the chair from the desk and lowered himself into it, crossing his arms, frowning. He studied the blonde as she slept, wondering. The four of them should have gone their separate ways by now. Their mission had been over for some time. They were no longer four assassins working together against a common threat. Those days were over. Yet they remained here, at this flower shop, idle as though waiting for something to happen, or unwilling to let go.

Usagi shifted in her sleep, her face twisting into a grimace and then smoothing once more. She whimpered, and then fell silent. Aya frowned and wondered what, if any part of that was a credit to the blonde woman. When they'd sought to hire her after Momoe-san passed, it was mostly because things were getting heated with Takatori and they needed someone to be available to run the shop in case of emergency.

He could honestly say he hadn't liked the cheerful girl to begin with. They hired her mostly because she was the only candidate who had applied that wasn't interested at staring at the four of them instead of working. She was engaged, and she didn't lack for enthusiasm, so he'd agreed with the decision. The fact that she showed up late on her very first day had annoyed him, but those first few weeks were the worst.

She was endlessly late. He'd never known a more scatterbrained person in his entire life. On top of that, she was frequently clumsy and knocked over a fair share of flower pots. She was awful at the register, and her cash drawer was always off. In an act of frustration he had sent her to do an easy flower arrangement, convinced that at least she wouldn't be breaking anything.

He had truly been surprised when the arrangement came out above expectations. The customer was very pleased. For all her faults, Usagi worked very well with the customers, and no one she dealt with ever left the store dissatisfied, or more importantly, empty-handed. As he gave her more arrangements, she continued to turn out amazing work, and he finally could rest easy without worrying about her messing anything up.

But he recalled being distracted during those times. He even remembered yelling at Usagi for being late one day, his mind full of other things and stressed to the limit. She'd looked surprised, and teary-eyed, and he'd felt somewhat guilty afterward. He couldn't say he was sorry, however, and therefore couldn't bring himself to say anything else to the blonde for the next week or so, but she had been on time every day after that.

Usagi is the type of person who attracts the people around her. Maybe that was true. Maybe she had grown on him, after a while, always smiling, always cheerful. He'd kept his distance from her because her sunny disposition at times reminded him of his sister Aya.

So caught up in his thoughts, it took a while for him to register what he was looking at.

Aya rose from the chair and moved across the room to the dresser. There, beside Usagi's neatly folded stack of clothes, was the pink cell phone that he remembered her carrying. He recalled her telling the detective that it had broken, yet here it sat. The back cover was removed and the battery was sitting next to the device, useless.

"Aya-kun?" The redhead turned at the sound of Usagi's voice in the quiet room. She was looking at him, questioning, propped up on one elbow, still clad in her black dress from the funeral. Though she'd just woke, her eyes looked terribly sleep-deprived. He wondered if she'd slept at all these past few days. She appeared paler than usual, and somewhat frail.

"Have you eaten?" Usagi looked surprised at the question, and blinked a few times in response. When she didn't say anything, he elaborated, "These past few days, have you been eating? You do remember that you're pregnant?"

The blonde sputtered, but truthfully she couldn't answer him. She could scarcely remember the past few days, what she'd done or who she had or hadn't spoken to. She was still half way retreated into her mind, trying to preserve what little sanity she still had left. A stab of guilt went through her at his words, however, and she pressed a hand against her stomach.

"Come on," Her head snapped up when Aya circled his hand around her forearm and coaxed her to stand. She followed his lead without protest as he led her to the kitchen and motioned for her to sit down. Her eyes fell on the stack of books and pamphlets, still on the table where she'd left them, and became misty-eyed. Sorry, Chibiusa.

When Aya sat the plate of eggs and toast in front of her, she pulled herself from her thoughts and met his violet eyes, trying her best to smile. "Thank you, Aya-kun." He didn't respond, but he took the seat across from her silently as she picked up her fork. While she tackled the overflowing plate, wondering if maybe he'd gone a bit overboard or if she really looked that skinny, he reached for one of the books.

Between bites, Usagi observed the redhead as he leafed through the pages of What To Expect When You're Expecting. The sight was somewhat surreal, though she couldn't bring herself to call him out. Every few moments he would glance up to make sure she was eating, and she tried to pretend she wasn't watching him. They stayed this way until she had cleared most of the plate, her stomach demanding the nourishment despite her missing appetite.

"You lied to the detective." Usagi started, and followed him with her blue eyes as he collected her plate and took it to the sink. "About your phone. I saw it in the bedroom."

"Oh," Usagi looked down at her hands, a bit guiltily. She heard Aya rinsing the plate, and then his footsteps as he returned to his chair. She chanced a glance in his direction, but he was only looking at her, his expression unreadable, though absent of disapproval she had expected. "I guess I did."

"Usagi." He didn't let the silence stretch or the subject drop as Usagi had hoped he would. "We are trying to help you. Your friends are as well. Lying to the police is your decision. You don't have to hide things from us."

"The day that Rei went to the hospital, that first night I stayed here in Omi's room," she paused, gulped, "I got a picture message from him." When she noticed the confused look in Aya's eyes, she explained, "The killer. He sent me a picture of Rei, right after he-" She shivered and couldn't say it, "The next morning I turned off the phone and removed the battery. Between that and the voicemail from Mamoru, I didn't need any more haunting messages."

Usagi stared at her hands, feeling the weight of self-loathing heavy on her heart. The person who had resolved not to let this psycho control her life had been a lie, a castle made only of sand that had washed away as soon as high tide rolled in. Everything she knew, believed, loved and valued was crumbling into dust before her eyes, slipping through her fingers.

Aya watched the blonde, silent, frowning as her face grew progressively darker. He tried to remember her cheerful counterpart, the annoyingly bubbly young woman who frustrated him with her scatterbrained tendencies. It was harder than he liked, remembering past the last few months where her face was lined in worry and the fleeting hints of fear.

"This message," the sudden words seemed to echo through the silence that surrounded the two of them. Usagi finally raised her nerve to look at Aya again as he spoke, "did it come from an unknown number?"

"No, it came from Rei's phone." She answered, shaking her head.

"I see." Aya contemplated this for a moment, the made eye contact with her. Caught off guard, Usagi couldn't look away as he spoke again. "You're safe here, Usagi, with us."

She smiled then, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Thank you, Aya-kun. It isn't me that I'm worried about."

xXx

"This is for you." Minako smiled as she pulled the phone from her bag and slid it across the table. The blonde model had picked Usagi up after her shift at the flower shop to take her out to dinner. Usagi stared at the basic, black phone with empty eyes, unsure of how to respond. "It's only temporary. We have to be able to get a hold of you, Bunny. I only gave the number to Mako. Anyone else you give it to is up to you."

"Didn't you say you got a job offer?" Usagi moved her eyes from the phone to her fellow blonde. She was referring to the chatter in the car on the way to the restaurant, where she had sat silently, listening to Minako's bubbly conversation trying to cheer her up. "An ad campaign in America, right?"

"Yes, but," Minako hesitated, not sure where Usagi was going, but not liking the sudden determined glint in her blue eyes, "I turned it down. It doesn't make sense for me to leave right now-"

"It makes perfect sense." Usagi's hand shot across the table, grabbing Minako's and squeezing. Her sapphire eyes were pleading, and Minako shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "Please, Minako. You have to go, and take Makoto with you."

"Bunny, you know we can't do that."

"You have to," her voice was trembling now, but she had to make Minako understand. "I'm doing everything I can do to stay safe, but I'm powerless. I can't protect any of you from this. You have to leave."

"Leave, and then what?" Minako frowned at Usagi and pulled her hand back, "The police don't seem to have any leads, any suspects, or really any clue what they're doing. We'd be on location for about a month. Suppose they don't find anything in that time, are we supposed to stay gone? What if it takes years? What if they never find them? What should we do then, Usagi, never see you again?"

"That's not what I mean." Usagi slumped back in her chair, subdued instead of the upset that Minako had expected. She wrapped both arms around her middle, a gesture that felt oddly ominous to the other blonde, and turned her eyes back to the cell phone on the table. "Even if it's only for a month, I just need some piece of mind. I just want to know that you're safe, both of you."

"Fine," Minako sighed, defeated by the desperation and misery in the best friend. "I'll take the job and I'll bring Makoto with me, but only if you swear to me that you will stay safe. Don't go anywhere alone, Usagi, even during the day."

"I promise."

xXx

He watched, indifferent, as they made their escape. The blonde one, the one who should have been dead already, and the tall one disappeared onto the plane and ascended into the heavens, out of his reach.

Was this some kind of challenge?

Did they think that this would stop him if he truly wanted one of them dead? It was simple. A plane ticket, that's all. His golden eye shifted to his angel, hands hanging limply at her sides, empty blue eyes on the heavens where the plane could no longer be seen. Longing, like an angel missing heaven.

A sneer came to his face as he looked past her, to the redhead standing on her other side, watching. Guarding.

Perhaps he had pushed enough. He studied her face, a mosaic of despair and emptiness that he had created. Maybe it was time.

Then she turned, smiled at the redhead, walked away. He scowled. Not yet.

xXx

Thank you to my reviewers. After a rigorous morning of studying, this was a pleasant distraction. I'm wobbling on the speed of the story, how much more I want to drag certain points out. Tell me what you think, though, your reviews do inspire me. (:

Thank you for reading.