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Seiya didn't take too kindly to my announcement. I wasn't sure what disturbed her more, my determination or the fact that I had said 'I'. The whole way home, I knew that we were going to have to talk about it; I had to explain. I had to go after Rubeus. Waiting until the deadline just wasn't feasible, because who knew if Rubeus would suddenly get bored or decide that he didn't want to wait? He could start trying to destroy Tokyo at any time that he wanted, and I, better than anyone, knew what Rubeus could do when he felt like he was cornered. We had to get to him before then.

It was just the two of us that day, since Yaten and Taiki were staying later after school and then picking Chibi-Chibi up. I suspected that their plan had been to give me and Seiya some time alone. The tension had been crackling between us this morning, and I guessed that they had picked up on it even if Seiya seemed to be carefully oblivious. It would have been better if they'd been there, I could have used the back up, but I knew that this was something I had to do on my own. It was a struggle to stay quiet until we were safely back in the apartment.

"I know that you're worried about me," I said as soon as the door was closed. "I know you don't like the thought of me fighting him. I understand that. I do. But I can't let him do whatever he wants. Rubeus threatened Tokyo once before and I stopped him. I know what he's like. The longer we wait the more chance that he's going to start throwing magic around. The city is only just starting to get back to normal, Seiya. It's going to take years to recover as it is. They don't need anything else to deal with."

"I know. I know. I've been thinking about all of that too. But it still doesn't make me like it," Seiya replied. "He could kill you."

"I could also get hit by a car on my way to school," I told her as gently as I could. She still winced. "I can't stop doing things just because I'm scared of what's going to happen. I'm worried about the town, about what this whole search for Sailor Moon thing is going to do. Right now you can tell it's starting to tear people apart. They're bringing in random young girls for questioning, even." My stomach hurt at the thought. "Petz pointed out, and she was right, that someone could even point the finger at me. Anyone who was paying attention to us over the years could suspect the truth and bring it to the attention of the authorities."

"What would they do?" she asked.

I had to stop and think about it before I could reply. It was questions like these that reminded me how unfamiliar the Starlights were with Earth. "Well… not much, I don't think. They could question me. Based on how I respond they'd either have to let me go or charge me with something, and I don't even know if they could do that. But I think they could hold me there for a while until they were sure I was telling the truth. And I don't want to go through that." I was concerned about my ability to lie. Even though I was used to hiding my secret, I'd never had someone asking me any questions about the senshi.

"What if he proves to be too strong?"

"That's a risk I'm willing to take," I said quietly, crossing the distance between us. I couldn't stop myself from brushing a strand of hair out of her gorgeous blue eyes. "At least then I'll have a better idea of what I need to do to stop him for good. And maybe it will make him think twice about attacking."

Seiya sighed and didn't say anything. She looked like she was thinking. "We'll go with you," she said at last, reaching out and resting her hands lightly on my shoulders. "Maybe between the four of us we could stop him. Do you think you could call Helios back? He might be able to help, too."

Now it was my turn to pause. I figured that Helios would come, but the problem was how to contact him. I didn't have the Crystal Clarion, and that was how Chibi-Usa how always called him before. Something of what I was thinking must have shown on my face, because Seiya raised an eyebrow. I hastened to explain. "It's not that I don't want to. Given what they tried to do to Chibi-Usa, I'm sure that Helios hates the Black Moon clan and especially Rubeus as much as I do. But I don't know how. Last time he showed up because he sensed I was in danger." Not unlike the way Tuxedo Kamen used to show up, now that I thought about it.

"Well, you're not throwing yourself in front of any attacks again, so I guess we'll have to just wait and see if he shows up," Seiya said. She didn't sound too happy with that plan and I understood why. It seemed like we would be heading into battle with too little preparation. "What, exactly, are you planning to do?"

"I'd like to try a sailor teleport," I said carefully. I knew that the Starlights used some version of teleportation. It was how they traveled from planet to planet. But I also knew that it was quite different from the sailor teleport I was used to, because they seemed to be able to travel on their own. The senshi and I had always needed to do it in a group, sharing our powers to make a force strong enough to make it work. I didn't know if the Starlights had ever done anything like that before, or if they would even want to.

"What's that?"

"It's a way of combining magic," I explained. "We hold hands and focus on the place where we need to go. Then we open the conduits and let power pour through, and -" I threw my hands up a little - "we teleport. It's the only way I can think of to get us inside of Rubeus's spaceship. Last time he kidnapped the senshi and then brought me and Chibi-Usa on board willingly, but I doubt he'll be that stupid this time."

"It sounds odd," Seiya said, which confirmed my suspicion that this would be entirely new to them. "I'm not sure what you mean by opening the conduit."

"Ami-chan explained it to me once in really scientific terms, but I don't remember most of what she said. Basically, it just means you drop all of the defenses that normally keep your power contained. It floods into the people on either side of you, but they've also dropped their walls so their power is flooding out too. It gets all fired up and needs somewhere to go, so it manifests outside of our bodies without a wand or transformation pen or broach. By focusing our minds, we can then direct it to take us where we want to go." I was proud of myself for having remembered that much. Ami's explanation had been thorough and confusing.

"We've never done that before. I'm not sure that our power works that way."

"We can try," I said encouragingly. I wasn't sure I could teleport by myself. I'd never done it before. And I didn't want to tap into the power of the ginzuishou before I had to, either. I'd need everything I had to fight against Rubeus. I turned my head at the sound of the door, suddenly realizing that more time had passed than I realized. It was beginning to get dark, and Taiki, Yaten and Chibi-Chibi were home. "Look, talk it over with Yaten and Taiki. They might have some ideas. I'm going to go take a shower."

I left her there and went to my room, intending to have a few minutes to myself. But it didn't surprise me that Luna and Artemis were waiting for me on my bed. I looked at them as I shut the door, and Luna said, "Usagi-chan, what you're planning to do is incredibly dangerous."

"I know, Luna, but what choice do I have? You heard what I said to Seiya." I didn't want to have to explain everything a second time, and there was no doubt in my mind that they'd been listening. I moved across the room and sat down on the bed. "Rubeus will follow through on his threat, you know he will. I'm not going to stand here and let him do even more damage to the planet."

"But you could be killed!" she cried.

"That's the same way it's always been. I've faced this danger before," I replied. I hoped that the fact that my heart was pounding didn't show on my face. I was scared, but I didn't want to admit it.

"You always had the senshi with you before. It was different."

"The Starlights will be with me."

"And I'm sure that they will do what they can to protect you, but they're not the senshi. There're only three of them, and I heard what Seiya said. They're not used to fighting the way that the senshi do. Rubeus could easily overpower all of you!"

"Luna!" I said, holding my hand up. She was getting hysterical. "What else do you want me to say? If I don't go out there and take care of Rubeus, there's a chance several things could happen. One, he could find out that I'm pregnant. Two, he could find out about the Ayakashi Sisters. Three, someone could figure out that I'm Sailor Moon and report me to the police. Four, people could start thinking that some innocent girl is Sailor Moon. Or five, Rubeus could lose patience and start destroying the city. Now I don't know about you, but none of those scenarios sound like a good option to me. I don't have a choice."

"She's right, Luna," Artemis said quietly before Luna could respond. It was the first time I had heard him speak in a while. He looked up at me with sad blue eyes. "You've grown up a lot, Usagi. Your mother would have been very proud of you."

My eyes filled with tears, and for a moment I couldn't say anything. I swallowed hard. At first the idea that I technically had two mothers had been foreign to me, and I'd had a hard time getting used to it. I hadn't thought of Queen Serenity as my mother at all. But gradually that had changed as I spent more time as Sailor Moon and Princess Serenity, and now I realized that I wanted that. I wanted her to be proud of me. More than that, I wanted to be proud of myself.

I stood up and turned towards my dresser. The girl staring back at me had her hair in a long braid down her back, just like she had every day since the end of the battle. Now, I pulled the tie off and gently unwound my hair. I brushed it out and then began the task of putting it up into odango. I had been doing it for so long that I knew I would never really forget. I'd worn my hair in odango from the time that my hair was long enough to do it. My mother had told me once that she felt compelled to give me this hairstyle, and now I understood why.

Within about thirty minutes, a far more familiar face was looking back at me. I set the brush back down on the dresser. I knew I was ready.

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