Author's Notes: Every time I think I'm on a roll, life just knocks the wind out of my schedule! Anyways, my apologies for not returning until now. Here we have the next piece. I would apologize for the feels, but instead, I'll be honest. Those two created the situation themselves. . Really. .

Please read and enjoy. Remember, I do not now, nor have I ever owned any rights to Sailor Moon or her affiliates or world. I just play in them for my enjoyment and yours.

Your reviews have been wonderful! I'm so glad so many of you have been enjoying this!

Sailor Neptune stood on the rooftop, mirror in hand as she waited for her partner. The wind and sun beat down on her, but she didn't notice. She looked invincible, calm and nothing like the mess of emotions she had raging through her at the moment. Anger was a preferred option to heart break, but her heart would not be convinced of it. It still ached for the closeness of her partner, her confidante. Keeping the secret for a week had been a mistake; she knew that. But she hadn't been ready to face the accusing green eyes again. She could disappoint her parents, her teachers, but there were two women whose disappointment would crush her. To protect the one, she would disgrace herself before both.

Duty was the consolation she wrapped around her soul now. She would never have her love, and when everything was done, she would likely be stripped of her status. There were only so many ways she could sugar coat her actions. She would be actively deceiving her princess, betraying her love, betraying herself. For what? To hopefully prevent more tears. Tears that would be replaced by others when she forced her princess to banish her. She wanted to laugh but the sound refused to exit her lungs. Being banished, had it been with Uranus, might have been bearable, but Michiru knew that what she was going to have to do would ensure Haruka never wanted to be near her again.

"What was so important?"

She'd landed behind the teal haired soldier intentionally. It gave her a moment to collect her thoughts, not that she used it for that. She did, however, enjoy the silhouette of the woman before her, drinking it in for what could be the last time. The action had been a perverse delight, torturing herself with something she knew she could never have and at the same time another reminder of what her princess meant to her.

Turning around, Neptune brought up her mirror in a smooth motion, offering the face of it to the other soldier. With tensions mounted as high as they were, Neptune was careful of how she held the mirror; it would be counterproductive to make Uranus feel the weapon was being turned on her. The glass reflected the sun before shimmering again, freezing on the image of Usagi crying. She glanced at it only briefly, not lowering her head to it as she steeled herself to look in Uranus' eyes. The glint of a sword caught her eye and it took strength of will not to look at it. Of course she brought it. The smile on her lips was sad. Uranus was the perfect soldier, so unlike Neptune. It would kill either of them to be without the other, but in the end, Uranus could force the issue whereas Neptune could only bring herself to set the stage. It really was unfair of her, but even as she thought it, she knew she couldn't change it.

"I've been getting premonitions. A premonition," she corrected. "Just the one. Over and over. Not through my dreams as I used to, but through my mirror. I don't entirely know what it means," she shook her head, "Why it's appearing. I don't understand. It isn't a normal enemy. This...well..." She sighed, tilting the mirror more and holding it out for Uranus to look at. "Endymion's guard will do that to her. They will take two, maybe even all, of her guardians." The scene in the mirror should have earned more than a cursory glance from her partner, but Uranus, ever ready to charge forward simply shook her head once.

"No. We won't let them."

Green eyes flashed anger as Neptune offered something that was too sad to be a chuckle. "She offered the transformation pens herself, Uranus. She doesn't have her engagement ring on either." She wanted to be as optimistic as her partner, as self-assured, but that wasn't her, not when she could see all the possibilities. Not when she watched their princess's closest friends leave her.

"Then what? Dead?"

"I don't know. I don't think so."

"Damnit, Neptune, stop being cryptic."

Blue eyes caught green. It had been too long. The conflict in their private lives was taking a toll on the partnership. There had been a time when they could finish each other's sentences, a time when they could practically hold an entire conversation with glances and scattered single word answers.

"Don't be dense, Uranus." It hadn't been her intention to be cruel, but the anger stemming from the text was threatening to boil over. Her grip on the mirror tightened in response to the shift of Uranus' sword. "She gave him the pens, not the other way around. You offered the answer yourself. You said Kunzite accused the princess of not caring for her soldiers' happiness. We know Serenity and Endymion met, fell in love. Their guards must have met as well. Spent time in each other's company."

"The point, Neptune." The accusation of being dense echoed in her muscles, in the clenching of her chest around her heart. She was smart, she knew that, but it was hard not feeling insecure sometimes when your two closest colleagues and companions could see what wasn't there yet. Her own psychic powers were far more limited. For Neptune to call her out on that was unlike the Neptune she'd paired with in the past.

As if you're the Uranus she had paired with. Would Uranus have questioned Neptune's intentions? No, and certainly not in front of anyone else.

They were going to have to work on their dynamics here, a feat which seemed less possible by the hour.

The aqua-haired soldier's heart clenched as the pain in the other's heart slipped out her mouth.

"Relationships for Senshi with those outside the Silver Millennium were forbidden, but if the Earth were brought into the alliance by marriage, relationships between them would still be forbidden as a conflict of interest."

She was fully caught up now. Her grip on the sword loosened slightly before tightening harder, knuckles white under white gloves. The only way the Senshi could be with Endymion's guard was if they were no longer Senshi or if Usagi gave up Mamoru. Her princess had been forced to choose between her love and her guardians. Uranus wanted to cut the traitors down herself.

"You think that's the source of Kunzite's hatred?" They weren't the words she'd intended to ask, but it would suffice. What she really wanted to ask refused to exit her lips. There was little point to asking if they could convince the others to stay when doing so was destroying them.

Neptune wasn't sure if Uranus believed her or not. Her own doubt, more so than even the potential of the blonde's, hurt.

"Don't you think that would create a bit of resentment? Being forbidden your love?" The barb was both for herself as well as her partner as there was no way either could deny some resentment toward the queen, even before the final betrayal.

The blonde soldier stood there for a few minutes, rotating her sword in her hand as her mind turned over strategies, a habit Uranus had had for as long as Neptune could remember. She lowered her mirror.

"We can't allow this."

This time it was Uranus's turn to laugh dryly. "And how are you going to prevent it? They obviously left her willingly if she had their pens and was giving them to him." She spat the last word out.

"By turning traitor first and sabotaging his efforts."

Of all the thoughts Uranus had, Neptune turning traitor was not among them. Not for this. Not for him. Yet, the devoted warrior's heart inside of her wasn't what reacted the most. Decades of soldier's training couldn't keep the woman from recoiling, fueling the feelings of betrayal. She couldn't speak, couldn't form a coherent thought. She was the rash one. She was the one who took unjustified risks, not Neptune. Never Neptune. She had to shut her up, to stop her from talking, from saying anything further, from damning everything about both of them.

Neptune kept her gaze on Uranus's eyes, expecting full well the movements her peripheral vision warned were happening. She calmly stood her ground despite the sword millimeters from her throat. Had the other woman intended to kill her, she would not still be standing. Watching the woman fight the warrior in the figure before her, Neptune waited, allowing the gaze to harden, to cement the wall between them.

She could have fought it, probably should have, but choosing to do so was too late. "I don't know another way to prove that's what is going on, but I couldn't do it without telling you."

"Stop. I don't want to know anymore." Uranus turned her back on her then, lowering the sword but not stepping away. Telling you. She wasn't asking Uranus to help her. Neptune was telling her she was going to do it regardless. Had their partnership failed then? Were they irrevocably broken? The soldier forced the woman's feelings down, locking them away for perusal and tears later when she could be sure no one could see or hear. Her voice hardened. "First you talk about manipulating our princess; now you're talking about whoring yourself out to Endymion's guard. I thought I knew you."

The words crashed into her, knocking the wind from her lungs as she gaped, clutching her hands to her chest trying to force her body to respond. She expected Uranus to be upset, but this was more than she'd imagined. When she was able to move air, she managed one word, "Uranus."

"No!" Uranus held her sword against her once lover's throat again, trying to silence her, trying to blink back the tears threatening to spill from green orbs before they could betray her pain. Watching the deep blue of her partner's eyes, she knew Neptune could see it anyway. She tried anger again, easy enough when she thought of Michiru cozying up to Kunzite. "I want nothing to do with you degrading yourself or the name of the Moon Kingdom with that kind of behavior."

"Then give me another option! Help me instead of pulling away."

The sword was at Uranus' side again, the glinting of the sun off it the only indicator of where it was. Neptune wasn't sure if she wanted to find out why her partner was now resigned to the situation. What was she tired of fighting against?

"You know why I've pulled away. Why you've pulled away."

She chose to let the tears fall instead of hiding her face. Pride was a fool's treasure, tasting like chalk in her mouth. "I do, and I know I'm just as much at fault, but-"

"But nothing, Neptune. The woman I fell in love with is no whore."

Blue stared into green. Love. Was that Uranus only? In the end, would it matter? She tried to tell herself it did matter, that unless Haruka loved Michiru, it didn't change things. They were still forbidden and should they ever leave Serenity's service, Uranus and Neptune would cease to have reason to interact. The contradiction of duty and love sparked anger that burst through her chest in self-preservation.

"No, the woman you fell in love with is still a fucking virgin. Did you know that?" Her voice rose, but she didn't care. The unfamiliar curse felt freeing on her lips, particularly because the sound wouldn't carry far enough to be heard by even the penthouse suites, and that was if they had their windows open, which was highly unlikely this time of year. "I've never been with anyone. Ever! And to know that you have women throwing themselves at you constantly-" her voice failed her as it cracked and she waved her arms frantically. "I don't even want to know how many, so before you start calling me a whore, think about whether or not you're a slut, Uranus. Because at least I'm considering betraying our love for duty. You're just warming your bed."

Neptune had never been scared of her partner, but in that moment, she still stepped back slightly as the other woman charged her, their faces closer than they had been in lifetimes. Had she stood her ground, the aqua-haired soldier was certain the taller woman would have plowed into her. Now it was Uranus who was gesturing widely, gloved hand emphasizing words and expressions that needed no aid in relaying the hurt she felt.

"Is that what you think? I kept trying to find you. I didn't know that though, didn't understand why none of them measured up." Uranus couldn't keep the truth from spewing from her lips. It was too much. Michiru was a virgin and she would give that gift to Kunzite in the name of duty? She'd never been with anyone? A primal urge to possess the woman before her warred with duty in her chest. Her voice cracked and half her words were spat at the shorter woman in an attempt not to completely break down. "I had nightmares, Neptune. I couldn't sleep because every time I closed my eyes I missed you, so don't you dare tell me why I brought women to my bed. At least I didn't betray who I was by sleeping with a man."

"It was supposed to be you." The whisper was soft, broken. Uranus had been right on every count, every accusation. If she followed the current path, she would be a whore, the only question left was would the price of her dignity be worth it. With the object of many tense and erotic dreams within kissing distance, she wasn't sure. "If it isn't you, it's a betrayal of everything I am, no matter who it is."

She was drowning. That was it. The blonde was certain of it. She was drowning on a rooftop in the middle of Tokyo.

The two soldiers stood there for long minutes. The aqua haired girl looking down, clutching her mirror as her whole body shook in quivers that were nearly too small to be perceived. The blonde woman gaped, mouth opening and closing repeatedly as words tried to form but her lungs wouldn't cooperate. The confession was everything she'd ever wanted, and at the same time, it was the one thing that would undo her. She'd betrayed Neptune. In the darkest parts of her soul, she'd known that was what she had been doing when she'd bedded Patricia, even with Neptune's permission. Now, her partner was asking her permission to do the same, to grant her the freedom to keep their cover, to perform their duty.

"Hotaru aged. We don't know how, but she's thirteen now and living with Setsuna-san. Saturn hasn't actually appeared, but we think that's not far off."

Turning on her heel, Uranus started to walk off.

"Uranus," Neptune called, but the blonde refused to turn around. She couldn't see the pleading anymore. She couldn't look at the pain and not feel the need to end it.

"Do what you have to do, but I can't give you my blessing, Neptune. Not this time. I'm sorry." Her legs took her far away before the last words could be carried back. The wind protected her, whipping up, covering her words and preventing the sea soldier from following. She knew she was a hypocrite. Going undercover had always been something they'd been willing to do before, but it had always been as a team. Now, she was leaving Neptune on her own; her partner had asked and she was the one who had left. It wasn't until she reached the Tsukino house that she stopped. Her wounded heart had brought her to the one person she knew could heal her soul, the one person she couldn't approach.

"Forgive me, Princess. I'm not strong enough. Not for this."