The much awaited chapter 5 is here! I'm sorry for the delay but sometimes I get so busy that I can't keep track of everything that I have to do. I promise chapter 6 will be on time. You know what's different about this chapter? There's no villians in it! There aren't any villians in the next chapter either. I needed a break from the battle scenes. So I hope you like it, even if there's no evil people in it. Ja ne!

~SXS

Worries for the Future; the Silver Crystal Losing Power

The palace was utterly empty without them. She got so lonesome sometimes. Sure, plenty of people were around, but no one could replace them. Sometimes she wished she had never let them go.

But how could she possibly have kept them with the looks on their faces everyday. As time went on they were less energetic, less talkative, more and more unhappy. Especially the leader. He missed one particular person back on Earth too much and sometimes almost seemed suicidal to be away from her.

In a bittersweet way, luck was with them. The Earth was soon to be in danger and they seemed to need help. It was an excuse for them to return to the ones they missed so much. However, she was actually letting them go forever, they just didn't know it.

It was her decision that she would rather know they were happy. They now had no bindings back to their home planet if they didn't want them. They were able to roam free, throughout all the galaxies, though she knew exactly which one they would stay at.

"Starlights, I hope you are well, and I hope you are happy, even in these times of danger," she whispered to herself.

Just then, there was a loud crash and footsteps running down the corridor in her direction. People were calling out for someone to stop. The guards must have let an enemy slip into the palace; and her without the protection of her senshi!

Two figures came toward her and continued on. She ran in the opposite direction to find her guards so she could stay with them. After a few moments, the evil pair realized that they had passed their target and ran back only to see her long hair trailing around a bend in the hall.

When they finally caught up with her, she was being protected by her large assembly of castle guards, each armed with a spear or a sword. "To get the princess, you will have to go through us!" one of them said.

"Very well," the female of the pair said and lifted her hands in front of herself. A strange glow surrounded each of the guards. The evil person spread her armspan to its full size and the guards were thrown in either direction and slammed into the palace walls.

The other of the two sprinted forward and grabbed the princess. He hit a pressure point on her shoulder and she was instantly unconcious. Then he slung her over his shoulder and carried her off in the direction of his partner.

"Kakkyu Princess!" the guards cried.

"Don't plan on ever seeing her again," the man said and the two jumped through a black portal and disappeared.

--

At the shrine everyone was gathered in Rei's room. Makoto, Ami and Minako were on the bed with Rei and Hotaru sitting in front of it. Mamoru and Seiya were on either side of me where I was sitting at the table. Haruka and Michiru were across from us. Taiki and Yaten stood against the wall. Luna and Artemis were on top of the table, examining my brooch.

"What do you think is happening, Luna?" I asked.

"I was afraid of this. Usagi-chan, the Silver Crystal is storing energy. It needs to have enough power inside of it so that it can help you make the world into Crystal Tokyo. There's only a limited supply of energy left in it for you to use to be Sailor Moon, and since you have used quite a lot lately, it's diminishing. You may not be able to transform eventually."

The words slowly sank in. It was my breaking point. Except for Seiya, no one else had seen me get upset about the problems we had been having since graduation. I broke down into tears and ran out of the shrine at full speed. I heard Seiya and Mamoru call after me but I wouldn't stop. I just kept going wherever my legs would take me.

--

All we could do was watch her leave. I had thought at first about running after her. Even if she were running at her full speed it would be simple to catch her. But Rei stopped me before I could go so I merely stared at the spot where she disappeared, wishing there was something I could do to help her.

No one would have guess that she would become this upset, unless she had been holding it in all along. And if she had been, she did a very good job of keeping it secret. Most people would gradually lose their mask of happiness and then their friends would know that they needed to help. But that was Usagi for you, and it wasn't the first time she hid her feelings about something either.

Ami spoke after a moment. "What will happen once Usagi-chan can no longer become Sailor Moon?"

"Nothing. The power in the Silver Crystal will just remain dormant until it is needed to change Usagi-chan into Neo Queen Serenity," Artemis answered. "In the meantime, we need the talisman. You said it gave some kind of power boost?"

"Yeah," Minako said. "Usagi-chan said that the talisman gave her more power and a new attack."

"Sailor Moon's attacks take energy from the Silver Crystal," Luna said. "The talisman is an outside source, so it gave off some of its power into the Silver Crystal which was then transferred into Sailor Moon's tier. It was almost like the talisman was recharging the Silver Crystal. Once we get a hold of it, Usagi-chan won't have to worry about not being able to become Sailor Moon."

Luna and Artemis hopped down from the little table they had been standing on. "I think it's about time we go home. Don't worry about Usagi-chan. She'll come home when she feels a little better." Luna padded off with Usagi's brooch and started in one direction. Artemis hopped into Minako's arms and they left in another. Ami and Makoto left together and Haruka, Michiru and Hotaru left together, leaving just Rei, Mamoru and the three of us.

Just as Taiki, Yaten and I were about to leave, Mamoru pulled me aside. "Seiya-kun, can I talk to you?" This was a shock, seeing as we were battling each other just the other morning. He must have seen my feelings in my expression. "Please. It's important." I told Taiki and Yaten I'd catch up with them later.

Mamoru and I walked together down the steps of the temple and onto the sidewalk. "What do you want?" I asked.

"There's something I need to tell you," he started. "I...I just don't know what to do." The air turned cooler and blew the hair from our faces. "I'm torn between two important things, but I must do what is better for my life right now rather than my distant future."

"What are you saying?" I eyed him suspiciously.

Mamoru took one deep breath and said, "I'm going to America for the fall semester."

"WHAT?!"

"This isn't something I want to do, but I have to. I have other things that I will do before becoming king of the future Crystal Tokyo. I can't just live off of bread and water until I become royalty. I need to make a living so I survive to become king."

Right then and there I could have punched him in the face. I wanted to so badly. The anger towards him that I had built up from the beginning when I had first met Usagi and thought of Mamoru as a disloyal boyfriend, combined with the fact that he was now going to leave her, all boiled under my skin. I could only just barely hold myself back.

"Have your studies become more important than her? How can you even THINK of leaving her at a time like this?" I yelled.

"I told you, I don't want to, but I have to. My studies are my top priority, next to Usako. I can't just abandon them."

"So you abandon her?"

"That's why I wanted to talk to you. Even though I don't like you, she really does. I know that if I'm gone that you being with her will be enough to keep her going. You're her closest friend, maybe even closer than the girls. I'm asking this as someone who loves her. Please take care of her while I'm gone." Mamoru looked at me and I could see the emotions in his eyes. Sorrow, love, regret, and something I couldn't quite indentify.

"When I met Odango, I tried my hardest to always be there for her. I promised to protect her, even when it came to revealing my secret identity. I've tried so hard not to let her down, not to leave her. When the time came that I had to go, I was so worried about her. Who would protect her? I didn't know anything about you.

"Then I came back and I try to be there for her always. And yet she still loves you. I devoted myself to her and she chooses you; the inconsistent, unreliable, convienient for yourself tuxedo boy, only because she thinks that you're her only option. Only because she thinks she's bound to her destiny. That if she leaves she will let everyone down.

"I've heard about your past mishaps with enemies, getting brainwashed and captured. And then you leave for America and get killed. I hardly find you fit to protect her, which is why I'm always close by.

"Now you're leaving again and I gaurentee that she will write faithfully to you everyday and always think of you." I laughed at the irony. "It just makes me crazy to think that she would love you after everything you've done to her.

"I will never, ever do something for you, Mamoru-san. But I will take care of Odango because I love her. I would take care of her even if you weren't leaving." I looked him in the eyes fiercely. He looked me over for a minute then nodded and walked away from me. "But how is she going to take this..." I whispered when he was gone.

--

Somehow I wound up at Crown's Game Center. I hadn't been there in ages, probably since before Galaxia even attacked. Memories of playing all sorts of video games for hours with my friends came flowing back. And then I remembered Motoki and Unazuki. Did they still remember me?

I decided to take a chance and walked in. Immediately I heard a familiar voice call my name. "Usagi? Is that you?"

"Motoki-kun!" I ran over and gave him a hug. I hoped that I didn't look like I had been crying because I didn't want him to worry. "Wow, it's been so long. But you look the same! How are you?"

"I'm great! But I've missed you. I think it's been almost two years that we haven't seen one another. What have you been up to?" A guilty feeling grew inside of me. Had it really been two years since I had seen him last? Not only him, but most of my other non-senshi friends too. Naru would probably never talk to me again.

"Oh just...hanging out. Going to school. I acutally graduated! I was so surprised!" This was a true statement.

"I'm proud of you. I'm going to school myself. I'm trying to do something with agriculture."

"There's an interesting subject. So how's Unazuki?"
"She's good. She'll be going to college too soon. I can't believe that my little sister is growing up so fast." Time really was moving quickly and my old friends were moving on without me. "Is there college in your future, Usagi?"

"Oh, I don't know about that..." Not at the rate these battles with the enemy were going.

"Hey, Motoki, we need you over here," one of his coworkers said.

"Ok. Hey, it was great seeing you, Usagi. Be sure to stop by more often." He waved and went off behind the counter to go back to work. I deicded I would go and play a game to get my mind off my troubles.

My favorite game was empty. Sailor V. Why I picked that one when I was trying to foreget senshi business, I have no idea, but it definately helped. I popped a coin into the slot and the pixelated version of Minako's old self came onto the screen. I let my thoughts go completely and melted into the midless state of an arcade game addict.

--

I must have been at the arcade for a few hours playing Sailor V because when I looked up, the sky was dark. I also realized that there were a few people gathered around watching me play. The little numbers on the top of the screen said that I was on the last level and had almost a million points. That's what happens when you play video games to get your mind off of something.

I decided that I would play until I hit the one million mark and then leave. I only had to shoot a couple more bad guys. The score went up and up and up until I finally saw the six zeroes. I had also won the game.

"Wow, Usagi, that was amazing! You never used to be that good at this game," Motoki said. The people around me were chanting my name. How had I gotten so good at this game? I lived it now.

"Thanks, but I had better get going. It's getting late." I typed me name into the high score list and got up from the seat. The crowd parted to let me through. My eyes felt funny, almost out of focus. After not playing in the arcade for so long, I wasn't used to spending hours staring at a screen.

All alone I headed for my house. Everyone must have been worried about me when I ran out like that. Hopefully they weren't on some kind of search for me. I went straight to my room when I finally made it home and Luna was there on my bed.

"I've been waiting for you, Usagi-chan," she said. My brooch was in front of her and she nudged it with her nose. "You really shouldn't be out without this."

"What's the point anyway? It doesn't even work anymore." Plopping down on the bed, I picked up the booch and opened it. The crystal didn't seem to shine like it used to.

"Usagi-chan, you can still become Sailor Moon for now. You can't give up hope when everyone needs you." The tears started to come back, but not as much as before. "The talisman-"

"The talisman, the talisman, we need the talisman! That's all I hear anymore but we don't seem to be any closer! We don't even have the faintest idea of where it might be! Face it, Luna. The world is doomed."

"Please listen, Usagi-chan. The talisman can give you power. It feeds the Silver Crystal when you get close enough and then you'll be able to fight. Now, what exactly happened that made the talisman give you power?"

Thinking back, I remembered Fighter putting a hand on my shoulder and then the power coursing through me. But after the battle when she touched me again, nothing happened. "I'm not sure..." I answered.

"The talisman is close," Luna said, more to herself. "If you can use its power then it must be very close. We just don't know where..."

My thoughts were becoming seemingly accurate. If the talisman was so close we could use it, it had to be inside of one of the senshi. Just which one...Even though Fighter could trigger it, it only lasted a little and then disappeared. It didn't make sense.

My head was killing me so I decided that I would go to bed early.

--

My recurring dream haunted me once again. It was less scary because I sort of had an idea of what was coming. But something confused me. I didn't know who the person with me at the beginning of the dream was. Obviously he was someone I loved dearly. He had balck hair and blue eyes. I would have thought that it was Mamoru, and in a way it was, but in other ways I felt a strange tugging to somewhere else.

The phone rang, jerking me from my thoughts. I went into the hall and answered it. It was Haruka.

"Koneko-chan? Are you ok? We were worried when you ran off like that," she said.

"I'm fine, Haruka-san, really. I just needed to get away for a bit, clear my mind."

She didn't answer right away. Then she sighed and said, "Ok. Just don't do anything like that again. You scared us all."

"I won't do it again. I promise." Then we said goodbye and hung up.

I headed back for my room when the phone rang again. This time it was Mamoru.

"Usako, are you ok?"

"Yes, Mamo-chan, I'm ok. I just needed to clear my mind for a bit yesterday."

"Are you sure? I mean, when you bolted off like that we didn't know what would happen."

"It's ok. I'm fine. I promise." Now he was silent.

"Ok," he finally said. "Anyway, do you want to meet tomorrow at the park? I have to tell you something important..." he trailed off.

"What's so important you can't say on the phone?"

"I guess you'll have to come and see tomorrow. How about noon?"

That was odd. Mamoru usually always told me things on the phone. What made this so different? I was instantly worried.

"Ok...I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Right, bye."

We hung up, but I was still worried and confused as to why he would want to tell me something in person. On the second attempt to return to my bedroom, the phone rang once more. Seiya was on the other end this time.

"Odango, are you ok?"

"YES! GOSH! Everyone is calling me freaking out! Doesn't anyone think that I can take care of myself?" I shouted into the reciever. I heard an 'ouch' come from the other side and I figure I must have hurt Seiya's ear. "Gomen, Seiya, but sometimes I feel like everyone is treating me like an irresponsible kid."

"Of course we're worried, Odango. When you run off like that, espcially without your brooch, you could get into trouble. We don't want that to happen. We love you." He had a point. Still, I was fine before I was Sailor Moon and I would have to be fine soon because I wouldn't be able to become Sailor Moon anymore.

"I just wish someone would give me some credit."

"I give you credit. I just wanted to check up on you. Do you want to talk?" I didn't think that I could talk about anything having to with it at the moment because I didn't feel up to it. I couldn't cry anymore.

"No, it's fine." There was a silent pause. "Ne, Seiya, Mamo-chan told me to meet him at the park tomorrow. He said he had to tell me something important. What do you think he meant?"
Seiya didn't say anything at first. Then when he finally spoke he said, "I'm...not sure. I don't think it'll be anything too bad. At least, I hope it isn't, for your sake." Another pause. "What time did he say he'd meet you?"

"Noon."

"Ok. Well, I'll see ya round, kay?"

"Um...Alright, bye." And we hung up. I sprinted to my bedroom before the phone could ring again. I figured that later on I would get a bunch of frantic phone calls from the rest of my friends. Back in my room, Luna was up.

"Do you feel a little better, Usagi-chan?" she asked.

"Maybe a tiny bit, but not a lot. Everyone is calling me at once though and it's crazy. No one thinks I can help myself." I sighed and flopped back on my bed. "I guess they're right though. All I can do now it yell at the monsters. Everyone else fights for me."

"Usagi-chan, you can do so much just being yourself. I know that you can handle things on your own. But everyone loves you so of course they'll be worried."

"That's what Seiya said. And tomorrow Mamo-chan wants to tell me something 'important' at the park. I'm scared even more now. What if he breaks up with me?"

"I don't think that will happen," she said. "You know what you need? A day comepletely and totally to yourself. I'll tell everyone that you're ok and then you can just relax and not have to worry about anyone or anything to do with senshi business. It'll be good to get some downtime."

"Thanks, Luna. Thank you very much." I felt almost like I couldn't keep my eyes open any more so I closed them and went back to sleep.

So there it is. Wonder what will happen next. You'll have to read next week and find out! Here's the summary for the next chapter:

Usagi meets Mamoru in the park and he tells her that he's leaving for America. In tears, she runs away and runs right into Seiya. He makes her feel better but then directly confesses to her how he truly feels and she's confused. Will chatting with Naru help? Find out in Mamoru Leaving? Seiya's Feelings? Usagi Thinks About Destiny. See you next week and remember, destiny is not written in stone.