Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all related characters belong to those who created them.

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Zoisite was sitting in the living room, a forgotten poetry book on his lap. Although he had had every intention of finishing this latest acquisition of XVIIth century work, his mind was somewhere else--- thousands of miles away, actually, trying to reach his wife on a distant planet.

He knew she was hurting.

And he also knew what was wrong-- at least he thought he knew.

He had been there when Rei had broken the news to everyone; the wide smile Jadeite hadn't been able to hide throughout the entire afternoon hindering some of the surprise. But still, the great news had made the girls explode in glee as they faced the prospect of aunt-hood again.

He hadn't meant to look at Ami that directly. He had just been contemplating the overjoyed group of women shriek and laugh as they all clasped Rei's hands and gave her various recommendations on what to do and what not to do when the cravings came, as if forgetting Rei herself had been through two other pregnancies before.

He, on the other hand, had been on the other group, congratulating the goofy-grinning Jedite. He had just given Jedite a hard slap on the back and Nephrite was making some comment or other when something in his heart had stirred. He had looked up and he had watched as Ami took a few steps backwards, away from the giggling circle of women.

He had seen the way her beautiful eyes had clouded in despair, had seen the unconscious holding of her own belly, still perfect and flat.

And he had understood.

Before he could gather her up in his arms and kiss her worries away, Ami had bolted from the room and he had been drawn into another group hug. By the time he was able to weasel his way out of it, Ami had been long gone.

He had gotten home only to find a recorded message of his wife where she all too happily proclaimed she was going back to Mercury for a few days, that she needed to work on some new developments for Phobos' and Deimos' terraforming plans, and that she'd be back in a few days.

Any and all attempts at contacting her were graciously declined and when he had finally managed to talk to her (just last afternoon), the shadow of grief had already fled from her eyes and Zoisite was hesitant to ask her about it.

Even if they shared a love matched by few others, he also knew when Ami did not want to talk. And this issue was one that had brought the few fights they had ever had to endure.

He sighed. He had married the most intelligent woman in the world, and his own mind wasn't too shabby either--- and still, sometimes they were like mules in their stubbornness. He snickered at the thought. If people knew how logic flew out the window whenever they were together, they wouldn't have let Usagi name them Joint Education Ministers...

He knew she was there before he saw her. A sudden change in the air around him and he looked up at the door. It was slightly ajar and Ami was leaning against the frame in silence, in a posture so--- heartbreaking, Zoisite felt like reaching out to her and hugging her for dear life.

The haunted look in her eyes stopped him.

Instead, he put the book aside and rose slowly. There was a tautness to her stance that hadn't been there before and for a brief second, he was reminded of when he had first met her, back in the Silver Millennium--- by a fountain she had stood, the same frightened look in her eyes.

"I missed you, my sweet angel".

His words hung between them for the space of three heartbeats before she answered.

"Me too".

Without giving him time to react, she bolted forwards and snuggled deep within his embrace. As his arms came around her and his chin rested on the top of her head, he felt the quivering of her body as desperate sobs rocked her.

"Hold me tight, Zoi-chan", she muttered in between two sobs and a tear, and Zoisite could do nothing but comply. He whispered silly nonsense to her, inarticulate words in seven different languages, but all meaning the same thing:

"I'm here, love. I'm here".

They stood there for hours to no end, communicating without words. And he dared not press her to tell him what was wrong--- every time he as much as approached the subject, her face would contort in a grimace that struck such a deep chord within him that he felt as if it was him the one suffering.

So he simply held her, and she was thankful for that.

He didn't know how long it had been until she softly looked up to him, eyes rimmed with red and yet still managing to take his breath away.

"Thank you".

He nodded and brushed a stray tear making its way down her cheek. "Will you tell me what's wrong?", he asked her, hearing her heart beating against his chest as if it was his own.

She shook her head once, her long blue-black bangs covering her eyes for a split second. "I cannot. It is not my secret to give away".

And that was all she was saying about it, and he knew it. That didn't mean he had to like it any better...

"Ami...", his voice took a pleading tone as he tried to coerce her into telling him. Whenever he whined at her, her resolve would melt--- this time, her beautiful pupils hardened to the point of steel and she shook her head, harder this time.

"Don't make me lie to you, Zoi, please".

As he fought for something to say, she snuggled back into his chest and her hands encircled his waist once more, ending the conversation. In a reflex born out of two lifetimes together, his own arms hugged her tight again, but he felt her fleeting heartbeat thundering across the room. "I won't Ami, not if you ask me to. But it kills me to see you like this".

She remained quiet after he spoke, as if pondering the right thing to say. In the end, it was after a particularly deep breath that she found her voice: "Give me until tomorrow, Zoi. Everything will become clear tomorrow".

That eased his worry some. At least, they had reached a compromise--- quite a rarity for two stubborn minds as theirs.

"Till tomorrow it is, then".

They lapsed into another long silence after that.

When she stood on her tiptoes and nibbled on his earlobe, he almost jumped right out of his skin.

It was seldom that Ami initiated any of their intimate encounters--- it was usually him doing the seducing and Ami the seduced... that was fine with him. One of the pleasures in his life was making her blush, and with almost three hundred years of knowing each other, he had found it incredibly stimulating.

And he also knew things like that did not change overnight. As his hands settled on her waist and softly pushed her backwards, trying to get a glimpse of her face to try and understand what she was doing, Ami's grip on his shoulders tightened.

"Don't. Please, just this once, let me...".

He battled with himself, debating whether to let her continue or not. He knew his fare share of human psychology, and he *knew* this was not normal--- if only she would stop trailing kisses across his jaw and her fingers stop playing with his ponytail he could think straight and tell her... what?

When her lips founds his and they fused in one of the most passionate kisses they had ever shared, all thoughts of stopping her flew out the window. He held her tight against him, and he felt something give within her in the way her body relaxed against his own and she all but wrapped herself around him.

He never knew how they made it to the bed, but somehow they did.

**************************

Ami woke up with a start, cold sweat covering her forehead. For a brief instant, panic flooded through her, one thought in her mind.

{It's too late!}

But then, she took in the semi-darkness outside, the first indications of the world barely waking up... and the fact that she wasn't in the planet Mercury but on Earth, inside Zoisite's arms...

Trying to calm her frantic breathing, she looked up to find Zoisite sleeping peacefully, seemingly undisturbed by her sudden motion.

His beautiful gray-green eyes were still closed and his chest moved up and down, lulling her like a baby. His hair was still tied in his custom ponytail and she fought the urge to run her fingers through it. That would surely wake him up, and for what she needed to do, she needed him asleep.

Squirming out of his hold carefully, she never took her eyes off of him, drinking in his features.

So handsome, so very handsome... and all hers. She had been blessed with the most wonderful husband she could've ever dreamed of, and she loved him and he loved her unconditionally. She should've known it would never work.

At least not forever.

She had been so tempted to tell him the truth last night. Inside his arms, snuggled against his chest, she had all but blurted it out to him, all this ludicrous plan of hers--- but she knew better. In the end, levelheaded, logical Ami took control and pushed the desperate, irrational Ami back. If she told him, he would try to stop her.

If she told him, he would probably attempt this himself. And she was *not* endangering him (any of them, for that matter) because she was too afraid to do what she knew she had to do.

When she had walked across the shattered mirror that fateful night she had sealed her own destiny by becoming the one and only person who could stop the Feasting from occurring. She alone knew how to stop it, and she alone would do it.

Leaning forwards, she kissed Zoisite's lips, breathing the same air for a brief second.

"I love you, Zoi-chan".

Turning away from him was the hardest thing she had ever done. But it needed to be done. So she did.

Her slender legs came out from under the sheets and allowed her to stand up. She stretched a couple of times, letting her sore muscles relax and start working altogether. Looking back one last time, she crossed the door and left, trying not to think on her sleeping husband.

Her nudity was not something she was ashamed of. Besides, privacy was something ensured in Crystal Tokyo. Still, when she was outside the room, she changed into some clothes; the first ones she laid her fingers on. She didn't care what she was going to wear; it was just a precaution in case her transformation reversed.

Taking a few precious moments to herself, she sat down at a desk and wrote a letter to her husband. A long letter where she explained her findings, told him the place where to find the manuscripts and of the shattered mirror where she had seen herself.

Of the daughter they would never have, of the Feasting and of the truth behind the telling of the Ginzuishou legend.

But most of all, she told him he loved him.

With all her heart, with all her soul, she loved him--- and that was why she was doing this. Because she could not let him die, not if there was every anything she could do about it.

As she put the pen down, her hand trembling and staining the bottom of the paper with ink, she took off her wedding ring and set it down next to the letter. And then she realized she had forgone the most common means of communication of the Neo Silver Millennium (recording crystals), but she was repulsed by the idea of touching a crystal at all, much less record her message to Zoisite in one.

She would not let their love be corrupted by what she was about to do, and as her wedding ring winked at her from the table, she realized it stood for so much more than their love--- it stood for their trust in each other, for their link that went beyond life and death and had survived a Dark Kingdom (twice) and an eternity of shadows.

She stood up, pushing the chair back against the desk. No point in leaving a mess...

As she held her transformation pen in her hand, it felt incredibly heavy... Staring deep into the diaphanous jewel atop of the henshin pen, she noticed for the first time how the insignia was crowned with snow-white little wings.

"Mercury Crystal Power... Make-up!".

As the familiar tendrils of magic wrapped themselves around her, a wave of hope flooded her. All the power she had should be enough. It had to be enough.

Absently smoothing out non-existing wrinkles in her fuku, she took one last look around. This was her home. It had been for ages now. This house had become a part of her. Of her and Zoisite's life. Now, she would never see it again. And it hurt more than she thought it would.

{Enough!. You have a duty to fulfill. Stop brooding, and get moving!}.

She gritted her teeth and ran out of the house, tears running down her cheeks. So early in the morning, few peasants witnessed such a weird picture: a crying Senshi, running as if Hell was high on her heels, straight towards the Palace. As she ran, her boots click-clacking on the pavement, her plan circled across her mind countless times as an endless mantra. She had come up with in after reading the Book of Truth that lay deep inside the Planet Mercury. It had been waiting for her behind the door-turned-mirror-turned door, and it had opened just on the page she needed as soon as her fingers had first touched the impossibly soft cover.

She had seen it once before, she had even read it once before--- or would read it once more. Or had she read it already, considering that alternate future did not exist anymore? Then, maybe she had never read it in the first place...

Thinking about time always gave her a headache. She never knew how Setsuna managed...

The Book of Truth answered one question and one question alone. And she had known what she wanted to ask ever since she had first come across the Feasting scrolls. It had taken its time in answering her, as if the Book was considering her as a worthy recipient of its immense knowledge.

Just she had been about to turn on her heels and leave, the pages had turned on their own accord, and it had all been there for her eyes to see.

'You must find the Crystal when Serenity is sleeping ... that is the time when their guards are low. You must remember, the Crystal and Serenity are symbiotic beings. They are one entity. As such, you will never accomplish anything unless you yourself become attuned with the Crystal. And for that to actually happen, they both must be dormant'.

That was a simple thing to do. Being Queen hadn't altered Usagi's sleeping hours much--- there were no Royal appearances until late morning. The fact that she now shared a bed with Mamoru was a distraction too. It wasn't hard to see them flushed and wanting when their presence was requested earlier than usual.

The next part was much harder, though.

'Once you are in possession of the Crystal, you must focus on your power.
Try to make it explode: you need to awaken the Crystal's hunger before it is due. Once the thirst is awakened, nothing will satisfy it, nothing short of draining whomever is holding it dry'.

She was scared. Oh yes she was. She knew it would hurt. A lot. And pain was something she didn't deal very well with--- that's why she had become a doctor in the first place. To alleviate other people's pain.

'Once the Feasting begins, the Ginzuishou will turn to its closest source of energy. You. That is the only way of saving Serenity, Ami, and you know it. By sacrificing your own life'.

The fact that the Book had addressed her by her first name hadn't surprised her as much as it should've. Maybe she was becoming jaded, but she was used to impossibly powerful ancient artifacts having a trick of two up their sleeves. Then again, the Book didn't have sleeves, but she could've sworn she had heard it sigh when the words had appeared on the otherwise pristine pages.

Maybe even impossibly powerful ancient artifacts had feelings...

As she all but flew by the guards, she acknowledged their bow with a nod of her own. When questioned later, the Palace Guard would remember seeing tears on her face.

Ami ran, knowing the Royal Family hadn't awakened yet. But she only had about fifteen minutes before Serenity would open her eyes, and the Crystal would be again linked with her soul. And that way, it would only follow her orders.

Through the corridors and hallways, her stealthy running lead her to the Sacred Room where the Crystal was kept. Only The Moon Maidens could enter that room, the lock recognizing DNA structure; but she was the master of hackers: and she herself had designed the locks--- of what use is a creator if she can't dominate its creation? She could easily overpass the security system.

When she reached the door, she stopped dead in her tracks.

Her mind kept telling her to stop, to turn around, to go away... but she silenced it by taking out her mini computer. Throughout the centuries, she had modernized it several times, and now it was barely the small scanning device Luna had given her all those years ago.

When she opened it, it immediately beeped, telling her someone was near. Looking at the screen, she saw as a pink dot was moving towards where she was. And a pink dot meant Small Lady was near. So, she had less than five minutes to do what she had to do, before Chibi-usa discovered her.

Quickly, she pressed some keys on her keyboard, and made some mental calculations... when she was sure everything was correct, she looked around one more time, and pressed the 'enter' button. A click echoed in the empty hallway, and the door opened. She entered, and carefully closed it behind her.

Once inside, she turned her eyes towards the Ginzuishou.

It was there, shinning in all its glory. For a second, Ami considered the fact that she could be mistaken--- nothing so beautiful and splendid could be evil... but then she remembered her brief glimpse into what could be, and her resolve strengthened.

{I won't let it happen again. I won't}.

She walked up to the pedestal where the crystal sat, calm and unaware of its surroundings.

Nothing protected the Crystal from her now. In the centuries that had passed since Chibi-Usa had first met them, back in the XXth century, Usagi had developed a much deeper connection with the Ginzuishou than her prior (or future, thinking about things such as time paradoxes was demanding even to her agile mind) self as Neo Queen Serenity ever had. Hence, there were no locks or alarms around the crystal, as it was quite capable of defending itself.

And because of the fact they had realized it simply did not work with Evil. Its power could only be harnessed by Usagi herself--- which worked all the better for her. She did not want to tap into its power; she merely wanted to awaken the sentient-like entity that seemed to reside within the crystal itself. To awaken the Feasting, and prevent hell from reaching this Earth she loved so much.

She held her breath, unwillingly feeling the fear of the unknown grabbing hold of her. Gathering her wits, she leaned forward and captured the Ginzuishou with her hands.

She had expected pain, or even warmth... there was nothing.

The crystal fit perfectly within her hands and it nestled there quite comfortably, as if it was still hovering aimlessly above the plinth it had previously occupied.

As she looked at the seemingly harmless jewel in her palms, she realized the deeper she looked, the more she saw. It was like catching glimpses and flashes of different movies--- like zapping through channels at an amazing speed, you're unable to *see* anything in particular but you know there's something there.

She squinted, trying to get a better look.

The images within the crystal's layers simply whirled faster, and she felt dizzy. Just as she snapped out of her trance, the doorknob jingled. She almost dropped the Ginzuishou as she jumped, but the lock held.

Who was it? No one should be there this time of the morning! The Crystal hadn't hummed, which meant Usagi was still asleep.... the faint voice on the other side of the door was familiar, and she didn't have a hard time identifying it: Chibi-Usa.

If she entered the room, the Silver Crystal would activate in the presence of the Moon bloodline... and all her work would be wasted. They would think nothing of her presence in the Sacred Chamber, but she doubted she would ever go this far again. Once given the time to seriously consider what she was about to do, she would probably panic and bolt and she couldn't afford that.

She couldn't let it happen.

Calling on her power, she froze the lock. The crystal in her hand glittered in response to the call of the magic of the ley lines, but other than that showed no response to her.

As Chibi-Usa rattled the doorknob one more time, Ami realized her time had been considerably shortened. It was now or never...

She breathed deeply and closed her eyes. Through the closed door, she could hear some pushing against the magically reinforced doorway, followed by a sharp, familiar voice. Small Lady, and someone else--- it sounded like Rei... she stopped listening to outside noises, and focused on herself.

Going into her inner core, she gathered her power.

At first, it was just a small aura around her. She reached deep into her, and called onto Mercury. Flashes began dancing in front of her closed eyes, yet she *knew* it wasn't enough.

More.

More.

She needed more.

She went into her mind, and begged for more. She begged for her home planet to give her strength and power. The smallest planet in the Galaxy maybe the little one, but not for nothing it received the energy of the Sun. It was a living battery. And when its Princess asked for power, it obeyed immediately.

Her aura was beginning to expand. It began dancing around her in a complicated waltz of power--- yet she knew nothing of it. All she could think about was---

{It still isn't enough. I'm too weak to do this}.

What if she couldn't do it? What if all of this was a play, designed to make a fool out of her? She felt herself recoiling from the dancing blue spots behind her eyelids, unsure of what lay behind them. As a scientist, she disliked unwanted scenarios--- science was about control and explanations and answers... magic had never entered any of those fields.

This was as far as she had ever gone: what lay beyond her own boundaries was something she had never tapped into before. Was she ready to do it? Was she ready to lay her concerns aside, and face what she was destined to be?

She wasn't, and she knew it--- but then again, she didn't really have much of a choice. Either she did this now, or she never would. But she couldn't... for the life of her, she couldn't!

{I'm weak}

The thought sprang forth with such force her eyes flew open on their own accord. And a sudden realization dawned onto her. She wasn't weak. She was just afraid. She was terrified of the consequences of releasing her true power. She had always relayed on her mind, leaving her strength aside--- she had handicapped herself as she chose the brains over the brawn.

A true warrior was neither.

A true warrior was both.

She needed completion. Completion she had never achieved before. Completion which she had denied herself. And now, she needed it. A door within her blasted open as Ami destroyed the barricades she had unknowingly built around herself. Her eyes fell closed again and her head tilted backwards, and she let herself pour into the Crystal in her hands.

Her aura now filled the room, dancing around her in complicated patterns that she couldn't even begin to understand. The air inside was cold, even freezing, but she felt none of it. She could faintly hear screams that were coming from outside: maybe it was the Senshi or the guards. She didn't really care right now.

She had to stay focused. She knew she couldn't let her control slip. If she did, her power would go loose, and release itself in one huge explosion, which would probably destroy the Palace.

Her body felt numb, her fingers going cold to the point of hypothermia. So big was the amount of energy she had inside her, her body was having a hard time dealing with it. And still, the Ginzuishou remained limp inside her cupped hands as if silently laughing at her pathetic attempts at matching the power Usagi wielded.

Tears came into her eyes and she felt powerless.

She had done everything she could think of. Doubt clouded her mind again. She *was* the weak Senshi then--- she wasn't strong enough to awaken the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou's hunger... the jewel would never even feel her call... she was too weak... she was never the fighter type, and she never had a chance of going through with this!

Why had she ever thought on doing this? It was crazy. There was no way she could make the Crystal feed of her... she was just the first course. That's why Usagi was the chosen one to be eaten.

{Usagi}

She began crying, tears sliding down her cheeks. Why? Why couldn't she save her friend?

She was too weak.

Too weak.

Too weak to even save her best friend.

'You're as strong as you want to be'.

Her eyes snapped open, hoping against hope. Zoisite. That was Zoisite's voice!

Through a haze of thundering bolts of power going off around her, she was able to make out his beloved form, standing outside the now open doors. How on Earth had he gotten there, Ami did not know...

'I love you'

She mouthed the words at him, her throat too closed up to actually speak them. She saw him nodding slowly, the saddest of smiles gracing his lips.

'I love you too'

He knew. He *knew*. She could see it him his eyes, could see it in the way his fingers gripped the door frame and longed to be with her, within the maelstrom of power she had summoned... but he also understood why he could not.

He had found her letter.

He knew what she was going to do.

And even if he didn't like it, he supported her... no matter what, Zoi stood by her.

He loved her.

And she loved him.

And then, she knew what she had to do. For the first time in her life, she understood where real power came from. She knew why Usagi was so strong. Usagi got her power from her love to everyone. From her love to Mamoru. Love was the source of all power, and now only did she fully understand it.

She had always gotten her power from her mind. She never used the love she had for her friends, for her family, for her husband. And now, thanks to Zoisite, she was able to understand.

Her eyes searched his through the crowd that had gathered outside the door. As she found them, she smiled sadly, her lips twisting into a grimace as pain began filling her, the first signs of the Ginzuishou acknowledging her presence.

"Thank you".

She closed her eyes again, and reached into her heart. Her heart, the one which held the love for everyone: the same heart she had once feared would remain alone forever, a broken promise of the past keeping it in shards.

Not anymore.

Rei, Mako, Mina, Haruka MichiruSetsunaHotaruMamoruChibi-usaUsagi...

Zoi...

With that last thought, she threw her head back and poured her energy into the shimmering Crystal in her hands. She felt it in the edge of her senses, a presence they had only thought a dream before--- clearly female, it seemed to awaken from a long dormancy and she could almost see a pair of blue eyes looking down on her, blinking sleepily. The Ginzuishou was starting to feel her. It was starting to sense her power. And it liked it. As one sips a good wine, tasting, deciding whether to drink it all or not---

And then, it happened. When her life force reached her halo, a loud explosion reverberated across the room and it was as if the sky itself had broken in half. The windows shattered and a crack formed on the otherwise pristine crystal floor, beginning right in between Ami's feet and running through the corridors and into the innards of the Palace as if searching for something.

Ami felt as the Ginzuishou awakened completely.

She could feel it pulsing stronger and stronger until it rose off her palms and hovered a few inches above her fingers. She felt as the Crystal pulsed in synch with her heartbeat, one, two, three times---

{Now!}

Whether in response to her silent command or simply because it had decided it was time, the Crystal shone with a light so bright Ami feared it would sing her pupils and a sizzling pain filled her body as the Feasting began.

It was then that she opened her mouth and screamed.

Her cry was heard all over the palace, the transparent crystal walls serving as loudspeakers, increasing the sound. On their bed, Usagi and Mamoru jolted awake, both feeling the disturbance.

Mamoru felt as the Earth screamed alongside Ami, witnessing the horror of the life-drain she was being subjected to. Usagi felt as the Ginzuishou came to life on its own volition and how it refused to respond to her commands... for the first time ever. She tried to reach it through their link, and she was softly yet steadily pushed away.

She tried again, and as if angered at her insistence, their connection shut down completely. One look into her husband's troubled eyes, and they were both on their way to the Sacred Chamber, a black shadow crawling upon their hearts.

They tried to enter, to help her, but a hand stopped them all. It was Zoisite, who sadly shook his head.

"Don't".

"Zoisite, don't you see? She's dying in there!", Makoto all but snarled at him. He nodded sadly, his eyes never leaving Ami's floating form. "I know".

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's get in there!".

Again, Zoisite pushed her back.

"No. Look".

He grabbed a small flower vase that stood by his side, and without saying anything, threw it inside the room. As if Time itself had stopped, the vase flew to a halt. For a split second, nothing happened--- and then it was as if a white sea had been pelted into it. Alabaster spread through the surface like a tide before it exploded with a deafening crash.

The pieces slid through the floor like marbles and one of them came to a stop right at Rei's feet. She picked it up and squeaked as her fingers came into contact with the ivory fragment. It fell from her hands and shattered upon landing, a million and one glittering shards lighting up the corridor... it was as if someone had spread star dust over it.

"It's freezing".

"She's expanded her power. That room is a freezer right now. She-- she saved you, Serenity".

Usagi turned her troubled eyes to the General, trying to find in his face an explanation that wasn't there. "She saved me? From what?".

"I can't explain it now. Later".

No one questioned him. They trusted him enough to wait.

Zoisite's eyes turned back to Ami (Mercury, a voice said in the back of his mind. She *is* transformed, after all), who still floated a few inches above the floor. Her body was glowing with a light that wasn't its own and in her hands, the Ginzuishou shone brighter than ever.

He watched with a heavy heart as Ami's aura decreased and seemed to fold in upon itself with every passing second. How he wanted to get in there and cradle his wife in his arms, but he knew he would be frozen to death the second he steeped into the room.

He had to wait and it was killing him.

Self-preservation be damned, if he didn't carry such precious information within him that he was required to share with the rest of the Senshi, he would've jumped inside a long time ago.

Ami's mouth was twisted in pain, and her chest was moving up and down in quick a series of movements as she tried to breathe, trying to make her suffering more bearable. Her whole body was shaking as her energy left her.

As her *life* left her.

Zoisite watched in utter helplessness.

The aura which minutes ago had filled the room was now returning to normal. It now surrounded her body closer, as a mother does a child. There was a familiar feel to the hum of magic around them, and Zoisite realized they were all feeling Ami's life force being poured *out* of her. As little by little the nimbus around his wife diminished, the Ginzuishou glowed brighter and brighter as it fed. And then, with another explosion, everything was quiet.

They were all surprised to see how suddenly it had ended. There was no sound but their breathing. It was strange, almost anticlimactic--- Inside, Ami was laying on the floor, clearly unconscious. And the Ginzuishou floated above her, glowing faintly, seemingly dormant. Not a heartbeat had gone by and Zoisite was already by Ami's side, kneeling by his wife, calling her name.

The expression in his face was one the Senshi had never seen. And it hurt to look at him--- it was the type of despair that beckons you in and then swallows you whole, and this all just by looking at it. They could only imagine what he was going through.

As his hand reached out to feel the pulse on her neck, no one noticed the faint outline of a beautiful, green haired woman standing behind them, her otherwise cold eyes full of tears.

"She's alive". There was a general sigh of relief but the anonymous woman shook her head sadly before disappearing into nothingness. There were still so many things they didn't understand...

As if in cue with her disappearance, Ami's fuku rippled and changed, dissolving into her every day street clothing. The Senshi paled, and as Usagi's hand flew to cover her mouth, it did not stop the terrified whisper that left her lips:

"Her power--it's gone".

Zoisite nodded, clutching Ami's limp body to his chest. He dared not to look at the Senshi as he spoke, but the quivering of his voice let them know everything his stance did not.

"She--she gave her power to the Ginzuishou".

At the mention of the crystal, Usagi turned to look at her, stretching her hand and commanding it to return to its sleeping place. When it did not answer, she frowned, and as her fingers clasped around the flower shaped gem, a faint moan echoed around them and Ami shivered.

"Don't touch it. It hurts her when you do it". Zoisite looked at her pleadingly, and as he did so, Usagi noticed for the first time the faint string that connected the Crystal to Ami. It began right in the center of the Ginzuishou, and flowed across time and space into Ami's heart.

As she released it, Ami seemed to relax in Zoisite's arms and the Crystal hovered towards her, floating atop her heart with ease.

"Angel. Why did you do it? You know *I* would've done it. But you didn't give me a chance...".

His voice was barely a whisper, and the Senshi could not bear the suffering it conveyed. They looked away, feeling so awkwardly out of place... For a few more seconds, Zoisite kept on soothing the unconscious woman in his arms. He then picked her up, and motioned for the others to follow.

"Let's take her to bed. She surely needs to rest".

Everyone nodded, and didn't ask a thing, knowing that the moment wasn't right. Zoisite led the way, knowing the palace by heart. He was hugging Ami tight, as if trying to protect her from that invisible link that was slowly drawing her life away.

It did nothing to help. No matter how fast he moved, the Ginzuishou was always a step ahead of him, always hovering atop of Ami's prone form, almost mocking in its silence.

As they approached the South Wing of the palace, the sinking feeling of dread began taking hold of all of them. Ami was never sick. Ami never fell ill. Ami was a doctor. Something didn't add up right in there.

Soon, magnificent doors opened and led them to a beautiful room. The sun shone through the open window and the curtains flowed sensuously in a dance only they understood. Yet, there was something infinitely sad about the chamber--- hopeless, they felt hopeless.

Minako shivered unconsciously, as she realized what it reminded her of.

A hospital room.

Trying so hard to appear cheery, happy and hopeful--- even when the patient lying there would never leave it alive. A facade, a lie, prepared to keep up the moral of grieving relatives. She had never expected to find herself in this place. Otherwise, the room would've been a wonder, a pleasure to stay in--- right now, she couldn't stop the cold sweat which ran down her back.

As Zoisite laid Ami on the bed carefully, she moaned in pain, and the sound echoed loudly in the empty room. And it brought tears to their eyes, as they realized she might not make it.

"She--- she sacrificed her life for us".

When they tried to ask him what was going on, what was all this about, Zoisite's hand placated them.

"Let me finish. She came to me heartbroken and desperate last night and I knew something was wrong. I didn't push her and I curse myself for that now. When I woke today, I found a letter she had left me... where she explained everything".

Zoisite sat in the bed, holding Ami's hand and caressing the space between her index and thumb at a slow pace, just the way she liked. He just hoped that wherever she was, she could feel him...

"She had found a prophecy. A prophecy which foretold the death of life. Not destruction, but total annihilation. And she couldn't let it end like that. So, she made her choice. And that's why she's here now".

There were so many questions that they needed to ask, so many things that didn't make sense... but before any of the Senshi could ask anything, Usagi had moved forward and was kneeling by the bed, her gossamer Queen wings accommodating in such a way that they did not brush the floor.

"Please, Gods, no....".

She closed her eyes, and the crescent moon in her forehead shone for a brief second as she called for her heritage: the Ginzuishou glowed once, twice, three times and then settled back into dormancy, hovering above Ami's heart. A general shriek exploded in the room as the others understood what Usagi had feared.

"I--I can't control the Crystal".

As she slowly turned around, facing her longtime friends, she saw mirrored in their eyes the same horror that lay in hers.

Fear. Fear for the unknown.

The Silver Crystal had always been hers to control. Hers to command. Now, that was no more.

"It's OK, Serenity. It will return to you when it's done".

"Done? You make it sound as if it's eating or something---".

Minako had never been the brightest of the Senshi. Yet, as years went by, she had learnt a lot. She had developed a certain ability to *feel*, instead of the one Ami had, to know. And somehow, she had just opened the biggest can of worms to ever land on the Senshis' lap.