A/N: Enjoy!

"My daughter..." The words slipped out of my mouth, and I had to close my eyes for a moment. I did my best not to think about Black Lady. It was easily one of the worst times in my life. Knowing that the whole reason Chibi-Usa had fallen into the clutches of the Black Moon was because she believed that no one loved her - that I didn't love her - haunted me even to this day. Death Phantom had ruthlessly manipulated her, and it was only luck that Neo-Queen Serenity had been strong enough to pull her away from the edge. Chibi-Usa could have been easily lost to us forever. I knew then that Koan might be lost for good, too. Unless I did something about it, she was going to continue to think that this was what she wanted.

"That's right," Koan said, sensing that she had found a weakness. She continued trying to exploit it. "The Rabbit. She was such a poor little thing, so useless until Death Phantom made her into something worthwhile. I never understood why you pulled her back from that. Why you wouldn't let her experience her true potential. And now she's dead, and you'll never know what she could have been."

A blinding fury swept over me, and I found myself stepping out from behind Sailor Star Fighter. "Koan, you don't know what the hell you're talking about," I said forcefully, and she looked a little surprised. A little uncertain. It gave me hope. "Chibi-Usa is the most important thing in the world to me, and if you think that I was going to just let Death Phantom poison her mind you're even crazier than I thought. She wasn't experiencing her true potential. She was being used as a carrier for dark energy, just like you are! Do you really think that Rubeus is going to do any of the things that he promised you? What did he tell you - that you remembered wrong? That I cleansed you against your will?" I gave a bitter laugh. "It took me days to recuperate every time I healed one of you. Why would I do that against my will?"

Koan actually took a step back. "Rubeus said -"

"I don't care what Rubeus said!" I yelled, losing my patience entirely. "This isn't what you wanted. I don't care what lies Rubeus fed you and your sisters. I know that you're only saying these things because of the dark energy that he put inside of you. This is exactly what you and your sisters were afraid of, don't you remember?"

"Then why didn't you stop him!"

That stopped me. I looked at her. "What?"

"If you care so much, why didn't you stop him?" Koan demanded. "You talk a lot, Sailor Moon, but when it comes right down to it you and your precious little senshi don't do anything. You fight only when you have to, and you didn't make any move to stop Rubeus until he threatened your town. We begged you to do something and you did nothing! Why shouldn't we join the winning side if you're not going to take a stand?"

I kept staring, utterly speechless. I couldn't think of a single thing to say, but I knew she was waiting for a response. "Koan... It's not like that. I - you know that I would never let Rubeus do anything to this town, or to you guys, if I could do something to stop it."

"So why didn't you? Why did you wait so long?"

I had no answer for her. I couldn't explain about Chibi-Usa, because I didn't want Rubeus to know that I was pregnant. And I couldn't tell her that I had been afraid, scared of fighting without my senshi and worried about losing the Starlights. I knew how selfish that would sound. All I could give her was excuses, and that was not what she wanted to hear. Koan's face darkened the longer that we stood there in silence, and she glared at me with so much anger I couldn't help cringing.

When she threw her hands out, I was ready. We all were. We scattered, the blue flames hissing at the air where we had just been standing. I hit the ground hard on my side and rolled onto my back, one arm protectively cupping my stomach. Koan was hovering over me before I had the chance to get my bearings back, and she reached out one hand and clasped it around my throat. Finding myself without air was never something I wanted to experience again; Endymion had done this once when he was under Beryl's influence, and it would have given me nightmares had I not forgot all about it right after and not remembered for nearly a year. I suspected I wouldn't be forgetting this any time soon.

"Die," Koan hissed, her face so close to mine that it was all I could see. I was stunned by the depths of pain in her eyes. Her hand squeezed around my neck and I choked, bringing my free hand up to grab at her wrist. Though I was able to get a good grip, I wasn't able to pry her hand free. She was holding on too tightly. Her nails were beginning to dig into the side of my throat, and I could feel coolness that meant I was bleeding. Black spots started to flash in front of my vision.

All of a sudden, Koan went stiff. Her eyes glazed over and then fluttered shut, and then her whole weight came crashing down on top of me. I gasped for breath, both from the choking and from being crushed. Almost immediately she was being lifted away, and I rolled onto my side and brought my knees up against my chest as I panted. My lungs were throbbing from a lack of air, and it took me a couple of minutes of deep, steady breathes before I felt like I wasn't going to faint. Only then did I realize that Maker was crouched over me, saying my name over and over in a low, worried tone.

"Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon, are you alright? Can you hear me?"

"I'm okay," I said hoarsely. I should have been expecting it, but it was still a surprise to hear how raspy my voice was. I tried to sit up and couldn't, my body too weak from the shock of what had happened. She reached out and put her arm around my shoulders, gently lifting me into a seated position.

"Tilt your head back. Let me see," she said.

I did as she ordered, and even though I was prepared for her to touch me I still flinched at the feeling of her fingers on my bruised flesh. Maker stilled, her jaw tightening, and only continued when I gave a short nod of confirmation. She kept her touch light, feeling around to make sure that nothing was openly wrong. She paused at the scratches on either side of my neck, and I felt her brush at the blood. When she took her hand away, her glove was smeared with it.

"Am I going to live?" I asked. It was meant to be a joke, but she didn't take it that way.

"You will," she said with an inflection I did not like.

"Maker, no," I said, catching her arm. I looked into her eyes, making sure that she knew I was dead serious about this. "You can't hurt Koan. I told you, she doesn't know what she's doing." I had my doubts about that, just a little. But this was so familiar to me. Death Phantom had manipulated Chibi-Usa's anger and despair over what had happened to Neo-Queen Serenity and Crystal Tokyo, magnifying them until that was all she could think up and it controlled her completely. I had the feeling that the same thing had happened to Koan and the others. It still wasn't their fault.

"She tried to kill you!" Maker said.

"I know she did, but this is all part of being a senshi. Whether she comes after me with her hands or with fire, it's all the same," I pointed out. I knew that didn't really make it any better, but it was the truth and I knew that Maker would see that. "Look, can't we just tie her up and make sure that she doesn't come after us again? I don't know if I can get through to Koan or the others, but if we can get rid of Rubeus that should be enough to solve the problem. He's the source of all of this."

She wasn't pleased about it, but she agreed. She helped me to stand up and I turned to see that Fighter and Healer were crouched over Koan, ready to strike at the slightest sign that she was conscious. They'd heard me talking, so they knew I was alright. But I still stepped closer to Fighter and allowed her to pull me into her arms. She seemed to need to touch me to know that I was really okay, and honestly I didn't mind the comfort. In spite of my proud words, I was trembling with the knowledge of how close I'd come to death.

"What can we tie her up with?" Healer asked. "There's nothing here."

"Just tear off a part of that stupid skirt," I said. It was fashion travesty, so it wasn't like anyone was going to miss it. We'd be doing Koan a favor. "The material should be strong enough that she won't be able to escape. Just make sure you tie it really tight."

Healer shot me a smirk that said all too clearly that I wouldn't need to worry about that. "Got it," she said, taking hold of Koan's skirt and ripping it easily in two. Her pink jumpsuit was left intact, but Maker and Healer made quick work of the fluffy skirt. I watched as they started binding Koan's hands and feet, but then Fighter put a hand on my cheek and brought my face back to hers.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked, her eyes running up and down my body like she would be able to see something that Maker had missed. "I'm so sorry, Odango. I should have gotten to you sooner, but when she pushed us aside I hit the wall and I didn't get up as quickly as I should have."

"Fighter, it's fine." I was worried now, too, but I knew that she wouldn't admit to anything being wrong even if she was dying. I didn't see any blood, though, and that made me feel a little better. I put a hand over hers, pressing it lightly into my cheek. "I'm fine. I'm telling you the truth. Yeah I was starting to black out a little bit, but that comes with the territory." I gave her my best reassuring smile. Truth be told, my whole neck was still hurting an awful lot. Every time I spoke it felt the way it did when I was sick, like someone was scraping over the inside of my throat with a fork. But I didn't see any point in telling her that. It wasn't like they could do anything.

Fighter watched me for a minute longer before she sighed. "When we get out of here, you're going to the hospital."

"I'll go if you do," I replied, already knowing that there probably wouldn't be a point. We healed fast, particularly when we were transformed, and I suspected that within a couple of days the bruises would no longer be visible. Of course, depending on how much energy I had to expend that might not even be a factor - and judging by how strong Koan was, that was beginning to look more likely. I tried not to let that thought show on my face.

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