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Somehow I never stopped to think about the fact that other people I knew would be at the memorial service, too. I saw a lot of my old friends from school. Some of them smiled and waved at me. Others just looked at me like they had no idea who I was. And then, while I was circling around the wall looking for the names of the senshi, I spotted them. Naru was there with Umino. She was staring silently at the wall when she suddenly looked up and caught my eye. I smiled weakly at her and she tilted her head in response. She pushed her way through the crowd until she was standing beside me. We didn't say anything at first, but then she reached out and hugged me. By the time she pulled away Umino had reached us.

"Naru-chan, Umino, it's good to see you," I said. It was, even though I could have wished for better conditions. I'd lost track of Naru after she and I had gone to different high schools. Being a senshi had consumed my life, pushing everything else to the wayside. She'd been my best friend for years but now I felt like I didn't even know her. She was a stranger to me even though it had only been a few months since I'd last seen her.

"It's good to see you too, Usagi-chan. I almost didn't recognize you," Naru said, smiling. She looked tired and there were dark circles underneath her eyes. She'd been crying, I realized, and my heart went out to her. "You look so cute in that dress."

"Thanks," I said shyly, ducking my head a little. I wasn't wearing my hair in odango. Yaten had braided it for me again. I could see from the looks on their faces that they wanted to ask why, but both of them were too polite for that and I was grateful. "I'm glad that you're, well…" I cleared my throat, feeling awkward, and concluded with, "that you're both here." I hadn't given them a moment's thought before but suddenly I realized it was the truth. It was good to see that they had survived, that at least I wouldn't have to mourn them.

"You too. Though of course I knew you would." Naru leaned against Umino. "My mother's shop was destroyed but she survived. How did your family make out?"

"Everyone accounted for," I told her, knowing she meant Mom and Dad and Shingo, not my friends. "I think they're around somewhere. I came with some of my friends." I turned instinctively towards the stage and caught Yaten's eye just as the song changed to one that was slower, more fitting for the day. She gave me a little nod and I read the warning in her face: stay where we can see you.

"You know the Three Lights?" Naru looked impressed. "I heard they'd gone to your school! I was so jealous when I found out. I really wanted the chance to meet them, too."

I laughed. "No you wouldn't have." I could remember their disdain for fans all too easily. Naru would've been just another annoyance, but I had the feeling that they might be a little more receptive now. "You should come by sometime. Both of you." I included Umino in my gaze and he raised his eyebrows. "No, I mean it."

"That's awfully sweet of you, but I'm sure they wouldn't want you to be inviting people over on their behalf," Umino said. I was surprised to hear him speak. His voice had gotten much deeper. It suited him. I looked at him a little closer and realized that he wasn't wearing those awful thick glasses anymore. Now he wore contacts and I could see the lines of his face. He was… almost handsome.

"You'd be surprised," I replied at last. "Here, give me your cell phone, Naru-chan." She handed it over and I put my new number into it. I didn't know why I was so desperate to make sure that they didn't just walk away but I felt like I needed to be around them for a while. Maybe it was just easier remembering a time when I hadn't lost nearly everything I had to live for.

"And who's this cutie?" Naru asked, taking her phone back and leaning over. Chibi-Chibi blinked up at her with wide blue eyes and Naru smiled, chucking her gently under the chin. "Usagi-chan, is this your sister? I didn't know your mother was pregnant."

"She wasn't," I said without thinking. My heart was pounding but I hoped it didn't show. I hadn't really put much more thought into how I would explain Chibi-Chibi's presence. Children just didn't appear out of thin air – or at least, they didn't in the worlds of normal people. If too much attention was brought to her she could be taken away from me. Yet it wasn't like I could just hypnotise everyone into thinking she was my child. I was only sixteen and Chibi-Chibi was at least four years old, possibly five. No one would believe that I'd had a child when I was only eleven years old. Naru was looking at me curiously and, in desperation, I said, "She's Mamo-chan's niece. Her parents died and she came to stay with him. Now that he's gone I'm looking after her."

"Oh, Usagi-chan." Naru's face changed, filling with sympathy, and she reached out and took Umino's hand. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know that Chiba-san was..."

I blinked at her and then it dawned on me that I'd just blurted out that Mamo-chan had died in the attack. "Oh, well, yeah," I said, glancing away uncomfortably. It wasn't the best story in the world. Chibi-Chibi and I looked quite a bit alike, after all. But I hoped that the mention of Mamoru's death would keep them or anyone else from probing too deeply. In for a penny, in for a pound, so I took a deep breath and added, "Actually, Ami-chan, Rei-chan, Mako-chan and Minako-chan were, too."

"What?" She looked stricken. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" She reached out and hugged me again. Her arms were warm around me and I leaned into her a little. "You must be so upset."

I just nodded, unable to form the words. I'd been looking for their names but I hadn't found them yet. I knew they were here somewhere, just like I knew their families would also be around. Ami's mother, Rei's grandfather, and Minako's parents, plus Hotaru's father, the poor man. There wouldn't be anyone for Makoto, and I had no idea if Michiru and Haruka ever saw or spoke to their families. Tears blurred my eyes all over again. I'd known Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako pretty well, but there was so much I had yet to learn about Hotaru, Michiru, Haruka and Setsuna. I'd never have the chance to make up for the time we'd lost.

Naru looked a little panicked when I started crying. She took a step towards me and then hesitated like she didn't know what to do. I hadn't noticed that the music had stopped until I felt familiar hands resting on my shoulders. I turned and pressed myself against Seiya immediately, hiding my face in her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around me and Chibi-Chibi and looked over my head at Naru and Umino. "Hello," she said kindly. "You must be some of Usagi's friends."

"Yeah, from middle school," Umino said.

"I see. Well, thank you for coming, but I think Usagi could probably use a rest right now. She'd love to meet up with you later but it's been a very long day. I'm sure you understand." Seiya was using what I had come to think of as her pop-star "I'm annoyed with you but I can't be rude so I'll politely tell you to go away" voice. She was very good at it and it made me smile even while the tears were streaming down my face.

"I'll call you, Usagi-chan," Naru said quietly. I wanted to say good-bye to her but I couldn't stop crying and I didn't want to upset her anymore, so I just stood there without responding until Seiya stepped back and brought me with her and started guiding me through the crowd. I could tell that a lot of people were staring at us and it took effort to ignore them, especially when I heard a few of the comments they were making. Everyone wanted to know who I was and why Seiya was touching me so freely. Unbelievable. Even at a memorial service, that people could still act this way astounded me.

Seiya took me backstage and delivered me to Yaten and Taiki, literally. She took Chibi-Chibi and then gently pushed me straight into Yaten's arms. I put my face against her shoulder and just stood there and cried while Yaten rubbed my back. She didn't try to tell me I shouldn't or anything like that. Seiya and Taiki stayed close to us. Even when their manager came over, Taiki headed him off and talked to him at a distance. After a few minutes she came back with four bottles of water.

"Here," she said, taking my hand and wrapping it around one of the bottles. I put it to my lips and sipped it, grateful for the icy cold liquid. I felt hot and stupid, because even though this was a memorial service I hadn't been expecting to lose it like that.

"Do you want to stay?" Seiya asked me. I didn't know what to say, because the truth was I didn't even though I felt like I should. "You don't have to, Odango. I'm sure there are plenty of people who didn't bother to come here today at all. If you want to leave, we'll go."

"You don't have to sing anymore?" I said.

"No. Yaten and Taiki can cover for me," she replied. Then she paused and I experienced the odd sensation of having all three of them staring at me, trying to figure out what I was thinking without coming right out and asking. "If you're okay with that, I mean. If you want all three of us to go that's fine too."

"We don't mind," Yaten added.

"It's okay," I lied. Truthfully, I hated the thought of having them out of my sight but I knew they'd be safe here. There would be thousands of witnesses after all. And Seiya would be with me, and there was somewhere I wanted to go with her. I reached into my pocket and felt around until my fingers came into contact with cold metal. I pulled out a thin silver key - the key to Mamo-chan's apartment. He'd given it to me after we'd beaten the Black Moon Family. It was his way of apologizing to me for breaking my heart. I looked from it to Seiya. "Would you go somewhere with me?"

"Anywhere," Seiya said without skipping a beat.

She didn't ask me where and I loved her so much at that moment that I could have cried again. Instead I just smiled. I wanted to know if what had happened between me and Mamo-chan was a dream and this would be an excellent way of finding out. He'd told me about a box hidden in the back of his closet and if it was really there I would know his spirit had visited me. I'd been putting it off until now but I knew that I couldn't, not any longer. I needed to know. I reached out and took Seiya's arm, tweaked Chibi-Chibi on the nose, and said good-bye to Yaten and Taiki. Then the three of us walked out the door together.

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