A/N: I guess no one saw that coming. Glad to see I can still surprise people once in a while! For the couple of people who wondered, yes the baby is Mamoru's. More explanation will come later. For now, enjoy!

By the time that Seiya found me, she was more than a little frantic. I was sitting in one of the waiting rooms of the hospital. I didn't remember how I'd gotten there. I think I was in shock. I remembered one of the nurses coming by at some point and asking me if I was alright but I didn't even answer her. My mind just kept repeating my conversation with the doctor. It was so much, too much, and I was only just starting to wrap my head around the reality of it when a shadow fell over me and a hand came down on my shoulder. I tensed, my hand flying to my locket as my head snapped up, and to say that I was surprised to see Seiya standing over me was an understatement. She was breathing hard and her face was creased in worry.

"Here you are!" she exclaimed, squeezing my shoulder hard. "Odango, we've been searching the whole hospital for you."

I blinked at her slowly. "Oh. Oh, right, sorry," I said, suddenly remembering that I'd had to turn my phone off and that I'd never switched it back on. I looked around, suddenly realizing that I was in a waiting room filled with a lot of worried-looking men. My eyes fell on the sign on the door. Maternity. Oh god. I stood up and blindly walked out. Seiya chased after me.

"Hey. Hey." She caught me by the arm and turned me around. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I replied, a beat too late for it to sound realistic. I couldn't share the truth with anyone yet. I had to take a while to think about it. Her. Oh my god. I wrapped my arms around my stomach, feeling dizzy. Some part of me knew - hoped - that it was Chibi-Usa. Even then there was nothing that I wouldn't have given for the chance to see my baby girl again.

Seiya was frowning and watching me closely. "Are you sure you're alright?" she asked, looking like she wanted to flag down the nearest doctor and demand that he look at me. I balked at the thought.

"They gave me some medication for the pain. I think it's making me a little loopy, that's all," I told her, deciding that a half-truth was probably better than a complete lie. The painkillers could have worn off by now for all I knew. I had no idea how long I had been sitting there in that room, lost in thought.

"Are you okay to go home?"

"Yes. God yes. Please get me out of here," I said desperately, clutching at her arm.

"Okay. Okay, shh, we're going." She slipped her arm around my shoulders and I gratefully cuddled against her and allowed her to lead the way out. She was talking and I tried to keep myself focused on what she was saying but I kept going back to that moment when my whole world had changed. Pregnant. There was only one possible way that it could be possible since I was technically still a virgin. Mamo-chan's visit in my dream must have been a lot more real than I'd realized. Had he known that this would happen? I wanted to think that he wouldn't have done this to me but I kept remembering him saying that he wanted to live on in my memory. And he would have known that losing Chibi-Usa would devastate me. I touched my belly again and took a deep breath.

Pregnant. Just the word made me feel a little bit sick. There were so many implications to it. Naturally everyone would think that Mamo-chan was the father… or I hoped that they would. I'd have to make up a story about him having come visit after he left or else the timing wouldn't be right, and even then people were going to ask questions. My family would want to know why I hadn't bothered to tell them. Other people would wonder if I was telling the truth, period. I looked up at Seiya as she led me outside to the limo. I could only imagine the rumors that were going to result from this now that I'd been spending so much time in their presence. People wouldn't hesitate to think that Seiya, Yaten or Taiki was the father. I didn't want to do that to them.

How had everything gotten so complicated so quickly? I rubbed my forehead and glanced out the window. I had a few months before I started showing. The doctor had told me that I wasn't far along, about three weeks pregnant, which meant that I'd be able to keep this to myself for the time being. No one had to know until it was absolutely necessary; I could get to the doctor's office for pre-natal appointments myself. If we could just get rid of Rubeus then things wouldn't seem so bad. I could leave the Starlights before news got out and -

My thoughts stopped abruptly and I felt cold all over as I processed what had just gone through my mind. Leave the Starlights? The thought was abhorrent and I didn't even want to contemplate it. That would be the best route for all of us but... I was sick at the idea of being without them. They'd been keeping me going for the past month and I had come to depend on them completely. I tried, for just a moment, to imagine a life on my own, without Taiki's quiet warmth, Yaten's prickly shield, or Seiya's teasing and hugs, but I couldn't do it. They were my friends, my family, and I wanted to stay with them desperately. But did I want it enough to risk destroying their reputations with malicious gossip? There was no way I could let that happen, it wasn't fair.

"Odango!" Seiya's firm voice broke through my panicked haze. She was leaning across the seat and staring at me with narrowed eyes. "It's not just the drugs, is it? Something happened to you in there. You're not acting like yourself. What's wrong?"

"Seiya…" My voice broke and I felt dangerously close to tears. I closed my eyes in an effort to hold them at bay. I was being silly, I knew, letting the stress of the day get to me. I wouldn't have to think about any of this stuff for weeks yet. I should have been focusing on Rubeus and the threat he was posing, not consumed with something that, if we didn't stop him, might not even be happening. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Seiya said gently, and I was reminded all over again of how good they were to me. Far better then I deserved. "It's been a long day. Why don't we go home and get something to eat. You can have a shower and then we'll sit down and you can tell me if you want to. If you don't we'll just watch some TV, okay?"

That sounded so good. It was exactly what I needed. I nodded and when we reached the apartment she hustled me straight into the shower, not even giving me the chance to check on Yaten first. I bathed carefully, mindful of the bandage on my arm, and even managed to keep myself from staring into the mirror as I got out. I did make a quick check but of course there were no physical changes to reflect what had happened, not yet. My belly was flatter than it had been in months because I hadn't been eating very much lately.

I got dressed in a pair of Seiya's pajamas, rolling the cuffs up to keep from tripping on them, and then walked out. I checked on Chibi-Chibi and saw that she was in bed before I went into the living room. Yaten was resting on the couch and I rushed over to her. She was sleeping and there was a neat row of stitches across her forehead, standing out starkly against her bruised skin. Her face was pale and scratched and I could see more abrasions lining the flesh of her arms. But other than that, she looked no worse for the wear and I let out a sigh of relief. Thank god she was alright. I couldn't lose anyone else.

Taiki came up behind me and touched my shoulder to get my attention. I followed her into the kitchen. She and Seiya had ordered Chinese food. Even though I wasn't really hungry I sat down with them, mindful of the fact that I was now eating for two. Before the rush of panic could overwhelm me again I spooned a little rice onto my plate and occupied myself with eating. I could sense that Taiki and Seiya were both worried about me and I knew I'd have to push aside the news of my pregnancy to be dealt with later on, when I had a little more time to think about it. Rubeus was the important thing.

"We've fought him before, as I'm sure you guessed," I said, not waiting for them to ask. I took a deep breath. This was going to get complicated. I'd never explained Chibi-Usa or the Silver Millennium or Crystal Tokyo to them. There just hadn't been time. And to understand where the Black Moon Family came from I would have to go into detail. Well, I didn't have to since they could fight without knowing the full story, but I felt I owed it to them to explain.

"Hang on. I think Yaten should hear this." Taiki stood up and went into the living room. She returned a few moments later with Yaten in tow. Yaten screwed her face up at the food and silently shook her head as she sank down into the seat beside Taiki. All three of them looked at me expectantly.

What could I do but begin? I told them everything in between the occasional bites of food. I started with the Silver Millennium and Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion and Beryl's determination to see us all dead. Taiki looked fascinated by the idea of us being reborn and I could tell she would have a lot of questions for me later. I didn't give her the chance to ask them now, just went straight on into explaining about the future. It was easiest skip the in-between, to relate the Silver Millennium to Crystal Tokyo, like Serenity and Endymion were two different people and this was just a fairy tale I was telling. But I caught Seiya watching me and the look on her face made me want to cry.

And when I started explaining about Chibi-Usa and how she had come back to the past to meet us, she folded. I watched it happen and it hurt. She stood up and walked out of the room mid-sentence, leaving silence behind her. I'd known that she wouldn't take this well. I wasn't as oblivious to Seiya's feelings for me as I would have had everyone believe. It was just easier, selfish though it was, to pretend I didn't understand so I wouldn't have to face it. In some ways I hadn't minded that they were leaving with Princess Kakyuu because it meant that I didn't need to worry about explaining Chibi-Usa and our future to her. I wished now that I'd told her right from the start, long before she ever started liking me.

"I'll be right back," I said to Yaten and Taiki. I stood up and followed Seiya. She was standing on her balcony, staring up at the night sky. I hovered in the doorway, uncertain if she would want me around. I didn't like thinking about a world where Seiya wasn't there for me. She'd been my biggest support, the reason I got up in the morning, and I couldn't bear the thought that I'd destroyed our friendship. I must have made some sound because she turned around and when she saw me she sighed. Before she could speak, I asked, "Do you want me to go? I will, if you want me to."

"I'll never not want to be around you, Odango," she replied and there was something sad in her voice that almost broke my heart. I kept it together through sheer force of will as I stepped forward and leaned against the balcony beside her.

I looked up at the sky, at the moon. "I'm sorry, Seiya."

"For what?" Seiya said. "It's not your fault that all this happened. I hardly think it was your choice that the two of you had that kind of future."

"No, that's true," I admitted. As scary as it was that the future I'd come to depend on was gone, it had often been frightening to think that everything was planned out for me. "But I'm still sorry anyway."

Seiya looked at me for a long time and then she gave me a small smile. "I am too," she said, and then she reached out and wrapped her arm around my shoulders to pull me close. I put my head on her shoulder and we watched the stars together.

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