Sapphire let out a long sigh and shook his head. "You can argue as much as you want, Naru. There is no way I'm going to risk you in this."

"It's fine for you to risk your life, but I can't risk mine!" she huffed back in frustration.

"I'm not at as much of a risk," he countered. "I've survived under one of the worst leaders in the underworld. Sure, he was my brother, but family didn't mean anything to him. He killed our sister and our father. I know what to watch for."

"You'd be there," Naru argued. "I would listen to you and how to navigate the whole thing."

Sapphire pointed out, "You couldn't be by my side one hundred percent of the time."

"Bastet!" Naru yelled, calling for some help.

"That's not fair," he huffed as the goddess appeared in their living room. "You can't gang up on me!"

Naru rolled her eyes at him in response and said, "Bastet, is there anything you can do to help me gain more powers? I can turn into a lion or a cat, but we're going to do something very dangerous, and I need some help." She then turned and smirked at Sapphire. "I can fight my own battles. I don't need her help on that front."

"I am sorry," he said, amused. "You have a good plan."

Bastet lifted her arms and spread them wide. "There, I think I can help you. We just need to take a short trip to the past."

Raising her eyebrows, Naru said, "How far back?"

"It's time for you to meet you. This should be fun," Bastet said, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. Then, raking her eyes over Sapphire, she said, "He's hot in Egyptian clothing, too."

"We're going to the past?" Sapphire asked, shocked.

"No," Bastet scoffed. "I'm taking Naru to the past, nitwit. I don't have any real link with you. You'd probably die on the trip if I brought you. Not that I would miss you."

"The feeling's mutual," he grumbled, not pleased that Naru would be traveling without him. He didn't like the idea of her doing something he considered perilous without also risking himself.

"When do we go?" Naru asked.

Bastet snapped her fingers, and a piece of paper appeared with writing all over it. "Two days. Follow these instructions to clear your internal pathways for the journey."

Naru read the first few instructions and rolled her eyes at Bastet. "This is made up!" she grumbled.

"It's really not," Beryl countered. "It's important that it's olive oil on number three, too."

Naru looked at that one and let out a small chuckle. "And if I didn't have someone to rub me down with oil like that?"

"You're hot," Bastet said in a tone that implied that Naru was insane. "Finding a man willing to do that for you would take seconds. He'd probably even pay you for the opportunity."

Holding up the paper, Naru said, "No watching this."

"You're so mean!" Bastet lamented, visibly deflating from disappointment.

Sapphire shook his head at the whole scene and asked, "Why the past? What will that accomplish? You never explained that part."

"Her past self had incredible power, but she never told me how she got it," Bastet explained. "With it, Naru could, for lack of a better word, teleport to your side. That would help keep her under your protection."

It wasn't lost on Sapphire that this meant that Bastet, despite not liking him a whole lot, believed that he could protect Naru. He grabbed the list from Naru's hand and looked at what needed to be done. "In that case, I'll agree to this crazy plan."

After reading the list, though, he knew he would enjoy the preparation. Oil wasn't the only thing she had to be rubbed down with.

Motoki and Reika sat in the penthouse with Usagi and Mamoru. After telling them the plan, Motoki frowned, looking down at his feet. He said, "It's a good plan. They all have mixed feelings about it, though." He was there reporting on the meeting that Minako and Kunzite had called—a meeting in which he made full use of his empath sensitivity and was now thoroughly exhausted.

"Sapphire's feelings on it are…?" Usagi asked.

Motoki laughed, "You don't need any special abilities to guess that. He wants to go in alone. Naru is determined to go with him, and I think it would be foolish to bet against her. While human, she is the woman that approached you willing to gouge out her own eyes so she couldn't be compelled to betray Sapphire."

Mamoru nodded and then got to the heart of the matter. "Minako, how does she feel about this?"

"She hates asking others to do what she considers her job, but she reluctantly sees that this is the best choice and something she couldn't do. She'll still struggle against that, though," Motoki said.

Reika nodded and then added, "But it is easy to see that Kunzite is supporting her and working to get her to see sense. Motoki commented afterward that he seemed tied up in knots over how to help her."

Motoki nodded and said, "And Reika had a great point. This will only assist Minako to trust him and rely on him more. Reika experienced something similar with her parents when she was possessed, and they were helping her. Sometimes reliance can only be forged in fire."

He then cocked his head a bit and narrowed his eyes at Usagi, "I'm so confused. What I'm getting from you, am I seeing a hung man?"

"Can you see him?" she asked, tearing up. He nodded, and she said, "It's not a pretty sight, but it's my brother."

Mamoru grabbed her hand and said, "I thought I was the only one who could sense Usako's tension. I'm impressed with your ability, Motoki. She generally tries to suppress communicating her feelings."

Motoki shrugged and replied, "I'm trying to learn not to feel everything in general. I apologize. I didn't mean to pry."

"It's quite alright," Usagi replied. "I am fully aware that being around you opens me up to being read. I don't have anything to hide. I just don't enjoy burdening others with my feelings —or visions of my dark past."

"It's not a burden, Usagi," Motoki said very seriously. "I see what you're building here and want to be part of it." He then shut his eyes, and sadly, he said, "Your biggest fear is losing someone you care about again. You still ache over the murder of your brother."

Mamoru pulled Usagi into his arms and held her, kissing the top of her head. To Motoki, he said, "Your point is right about some things taking time and experience. Usagi will learn to rely on us."

"I trust you," she whispered.

"I know," Mamoru responded. "You need to learn that we can get through this. Minako scared you."

"I'm sorry," she replied. "You're all just so incredibly young to me that I worry you don't have the experience. Minako is the second oldest among you. Look at what she did."

Motoki said, "And we see that. It's why we agreed that Sapphire should take the most risk. He's about a hundred years old and has the most experience with situations like this. His brother was a monster, like Beryl."

"And that is wise," Usagi replied. "That decision has made me trust this plan more. It's a good one. I just worry because I care about you all."