~*~*~*~

Kaori ran as fast as her legs would carry her. She needed to get away from the battle before any of the fighters would be able to capture her. She hadn't expected them to suddenly group up and help each other like that; they had never done so before. Professor Tomoe would angry when he heard that she had fled the battlefield without what she had come for, but that didn't seem to matter to her. The truth was that she was angry too. She wouldn't be able to monitor the progress of the fight, not that she figured there would be any trouble, but she wanted to watch their demise. They would never be able to penetrate the magical shielding around any of the heart snatchers, Professor Tomoe had personally seen to that. They would never be able to discover the weak spot - they were all too stupid for that.

With a malicious grin, she glanced over her shoulder to see if she had lost Gohan. To her surprise, there was no sign of him. "Must have been taken down." She brought her eyes forward once again, not wanting to run into anything.

~*~*~

Goku starred horrorstricken down at the lifeless body of his wife. His eyes stretched as far as they could while his face went pale as the color of snow. He had just witnessed something new; something that had never crossed his mind. Chi-Chi was attacked, for the very first time, in front of his eyes. The life had been torn from her body, and now it lay in the form of a crystal. "Chi-Chi." He whispered as he stared, not knowing how to react. He had been used to seeing his children in danger, and he had always been able to help them before an unwanted fate took them over. But his wife. this was completely different. She had never gone with them to a major fight. She had never been put in any real danger until now, and it hurt him to see her like this.

The light beam that had shot through the middle of Chi-Chi's chest enveloped itself around the Heart Crystal and pulled it back into the spider's mouth.

Pan stuck her tongue out in disgust as her grandmother's life-force was slurped up into the giant spider. "Oh great, now how are we supposed to get it."

Goku narrowed his eyes into a scowl as he took his eyes from his wife and placed them on his wife's attacker, and possibly killer. Arching his back, he could hear the panting of the Senshi, who had given almost every last bit of energy on their last attack.

Usagi's eyes welled up with tears as she sat down to her mother's side. Unlike her father, she wasn't used to seeing her family in such a horrible state. "Mama." She whispered.

Goku let out a growl as he readied himself for an attack. The spider was on retreat now that it had what it was programmed to retrieve, but its business here was far from over. Letting Usagi's tears feed into his anger, he bent his knees; positioning one foot before him, and the other behind.

No words were needed for Piccolo to understand the sudden rage Goku was feeling. He would help the Saiyan in anyway possible; they had never lost a fight before and they wouldn't start now.

The Senshi took deep breaths as they looked upon Goku and Piccolo, who were both readying themselves for battle. They were nervous for they knew of the magic shielding that surrounded their foe. "Be safe." Mars wailed as she hurried her fellow Senshi out of the way. She wanted to give Goku plenty of room.

Seething with anger, Goku was prepared for his battle. He would personally see to it that this monster would see its end before nightfall. "Let's dance." And with that, he was off.

Sneering, he set off at top speed. The spider was unknowing of the attack, as it had its back turned to the Saiyan. Goku used this to his advantage. He grabbed one of the hind legs and leapt into the air. The spider let out a squeal of confusion, immediately extending its poisonous spikes.

Usagi gasped at the sound, knowing full well what would happen to her father if a spike touched him. Her eyes were diverted upward to the fight, but to her surprise, nothing had happened. Her father didn't seem to have been poisoned at all. "What?" She squinted to see clearer only to notice that not all of the spikes had been brought out. Her eyes got larger with excitement. "Yes! Our attacks must have damaged the legs!"

Mercury couldn't believe her eyes. Usagi was telling the truth. "By my calculations, your non-stop, massive attacks somehow penetrated the magic shield in some spots." She jumped to her feet, ignoring her exhaustion. "Goku, keep attacking it! It's beginning to malfunction!"

Goku had no intention of stopping until his wife's heart crystal was back where it belonged. With the hind leg still in grasp, he began spinning around in circles. Once he had enough momentum built up, he released and watched the spider go flying high into a tree, and then fall to the ground.

The spider was met with a hard crash, but it got up with ease; however, one of its legs was emitting a bright light.

Goku dove downward, not taking any chances with there being another attack. The spider, more aware of its surroundings now, jabbed at its attacker with its front legs. Goku sidestepped to the left and kicked it front underneath, which did nothing.

Quick on its remaining legs, the spider spun around to meet Goku, who was going for another attack. The fangs parted, allowing poisonous juice to be spit at the Saiyan. It was at that moment that two green hands had been shoved into the spider's eyes, which forced another high-pitched squeal from the enemy.

Goku looked up just as he had landed from his back flip. "Great idea, blind it!" He grinned up at Piccolo, who had mounted himself on the spider's body.

Piccolo smiled back, clearly enjoying himself. "We can take this thing out if we continue throwing physical attacks at it."

The Saiyan nodded, just barely noticing the poison that was being thrown at him from all angles. The spider had gone berserk now that it was blind. It was bucking wildly, trying to throw Piccolo off its back. Pan decided it was her turn to attack, seeing that both her grandfather and Piccolo were occupied with their own troubles.

Picking up a long stick from the ground, she trotted to the side of the spider where she was met with near doom. In trying to throw Piccolo off, the spider had nearly trampled over her. She jumped back, hollering up to Piccolo. "Shove this in its mouth!" She threw the stick up to Piccolo, who did as she had said.

Poison was only able to ooze out of the mouth now, and it was dripping everywhere. "Better watch out now." Piccolo exclaimed as he jumped down to the ground.

A soft moaning was heard by Usagi's ears. She looked down to the person who was lying next to her. "Gohan!" She gasped as she put her hand on his forehead. "You're all right!"

A bit woozy, Gohan opened his eyes to see his sister's bright, blue eyes staring back at him. "Of course I am. Just a bit knocked out." He gave her a smile, and closed his eyes again.

Still filled with raging anger, Goku ducked behind to grab one of the spider's legs again. He made sure his grasp was far enough away from the remaining poison spikes, but that wasn't all that he had to worry about. Though still blind, the spider still had its senses. With its free back leg, it stuck Goku in the stomach, causing the Saiyan to give a yelp of sudden pain.

"Oh no you don't!" That was when Usagi had decided to lend her help. She raced forward next to her father and grabbed the attacking leg.

Goku glared down at her. "I've got this, Usagi." He didn't want to see her hurt, or worse, dead. One family member down was bad enough.

Usagi frowned as she powered up. "Let me help." She sent a sudden surge of energy through the leg of her foe, which was completely engulfed by her golden aura.

Mercury, who was constantly scanning, let out a gasp. "Usagi, that's it!!"

Usagi perked her eyes. "What's it?!" She shouted, hoping that she had found a away to defeat this thing.

"Whatever you just did.that shorted out whatever magical field was around this thing. It's just a normal enemy now!"

Usagi squealed with joy. "Are you serious?! You mean we can blow this thing to pieces now?!"

Goku kept his hold on the spider, though listening carefully to the girls' conversation. 'We must have torn down its defenses pretty far for her attack to have penetrated it like that.'

Mercury shook her head, still looking for clues on the whereabouts of Chi- Chi's heart crystal. "No, that would destroy the heart crystal. You have to be careful with it, we need something that will destroy the monster, but not the heart crystal. We need something like."

"A real Sailor Senshi." A new voice had entered the scene. It was that of Sailor Uranus; sarcastic as always. All eyes turned to the two new arrivals, who walked on to the battlefield with heads held high. Uranus took the lead, while Neptune followed close behind.

"Who are you?" Piccolo demanded as he looked from one set of Senshi to the other. "You aren't Sailor Senshi!"

Uranus's eyes traveled to Piccolo, her old Sensei. He was probably one of the only adults she had ever really respected for he was Mamoru's father. "We are very much so Sailor Senshi. I am Sailor Uranus, and this," She said, pointing to Neptune, "is Sailor Neptune. We are the Senshi of the outer rim. Together, we serve in silence to protect our Queen, and," She shuddered, "Princess."

Neptune, who had so far said nothing, looked on to Goku, who was ready to do away with his squirming foe. "You've all done well here, to bring this creature's defenses down this low." She looked down to Usagi and gave a sympathetic smile. "Where is the heart crystal?"

Usagi, knowing exactly who these two new Senshi were, glared at them both. "In the monster, but you can't have it!"

"Come off it, kid! We'll take it if its what we need!" Uranus snarled back at Usagi, whose face had turned red with anger. She turned back to face Goku and his catch. "Right then, we'll take over from here. As the blue haired kid said before, without a pure power strong enough to destroy this thing, you'll never get that heart crystal out."

"We don't need you're help!" Usagi shot back, thinking about how much joy Haruka must be getting out of all this. She wondered who in their right minds would have made Haruka a Sailor Senshi. She wasn't fit for the job and loved to torment everyone.

Goku released his grip on his opponent, which fell to the ground with a pathetic screech. "If it's the only way that your mother can be saved, then we'll let them do it."

Usagi frowned, but Uranus smirked. "We'll show you how real Senshi work, kids." And with that, she readied herself for the attack was built to eat away everything evil. She nodded at Neptune, who was just getting herself ready as well.

She stood tall and wore her usual smirk as she peered down at the struggling spider that had been severely hurt. She raised her right arm high in the air and chanted her attack. "World Shaking!" A ball of golden energy was formed on her fist. With a rapid action, she threw her fist all the way to the ground and released the energy to go flying toward the attacker.

Neptune added in her attack. She raised both hands high above her head and almost sang her words. "Deep Submerge!" A turquoise colored energy ball formed in the palm of her hands, which she released almost immediately.

Both planetary attacks joined to be one. The color had changed into the silvery light that was produced by Sailor Moon's attacks. The spectators were in awe, but this was old news to the Senshi of the outer rim. Their double attack wavered back and fourth as its spiraled forward. It met its target with a loud bang, but there was no explosion. It ate through the metal like acid, causing glittering remnants to fly in all directions.

The Senshi that belonged in Princess Serenity's court were mesmerized by the spectacle. They were the first to see the shimmering item that lay where the spider once sat; it was Chi-Chi's heart crystal, and it was bright as ever. Its warm light was shadowed by that of Uranus and Neptunes' attack.

"There it is!" Uranus shouted as she ran to it, hoping that it was one of the Pure Heart Crystals that Sailor Pluto had told them about.

"It's so bright!" Neptune shouted as she joined her partner. She knelt down next to Uranus, who was already holding the jewel in her hands. "Is it what we're looking for?"

Though relieved that the immediate threat was over, Goku had a new feeling of fear form in the pit of his stomach. "What are they talking about?" He asked, looking to his daughter for questions. "Why aren't they putting it back?"

Usagi frowned, not knowing the exact answer to that question herself. "Give it here!" She yelled, ignoring her father. She stomped toward Uranus and Neptune, who were still examining their prize. "That belongs to my mother!" She reached out and grabbed for the crystal, but Uranus pulled it away. "What are you doing?"

Uranus scowled up at Usagi. "Hold your horses, kid! If it's one of the Pure Heart Crystals then we have to take it with us."

Piccolo, now interested, stepped forward. "Pure Heart Crystal?"

"What's that?" Pan chimed, not letting Piccolo get the next word in, which earned her a stern glare.

Uranus shifted her attention from Usagi to Pan. "We are not permitted to share our business with any of you." She stood up and shoved the crystal in Usagi's face. "Here, it's useless to us."

Usagi greedily snatched the crystal from the Senshi and held it close to her chest. "It's not useless!" She could feel anger building up inside, but decided to let it go. The important thing was to giver her mother back what rightfully belonged to her.

Goku walked to his wife with everyone following closely behind. All of them wanted to make sure that Chi-Chi pulled out of this ok.

Uranus held out her hand for Neptune to take hold. "Let's get out of here before they start asking a bunch of questions." She helped Neptune to her feet, who nodded in agreement.

None of the other fighters noticed when the two Senshi left, not that any of them cared. Usagi held her mother's heart crystal close until she got close enough to put it back. "I hope this works." She knelt down and placed the heart crystal over her mother's chest. It hovered for a short moment, and then disappeared.

Color returned almost immediately to Chi-Chi's face, the pale gray leaving completely within just a few seconds. A sigh of relief was shared among the entire group as her eyes fluttered.

Usagi got on her hands and knees as she peered down at her mother's face. "Mom?"

Goku placed a gentle hand on his daughter's back as he knelt down next to her. "Chi-Chi? You in there?" His voice was soft, he didn't want to startle her after what she had just gone through.

Pan looked just as worried as her grandfather and aunt. She bent over to get a better view. "Is she alive?"

"Yes." Goku took his hand from his daughter's back and nudged both arms under his wife; one under her neck, and the other under her knees. "She just needs to rest now." He stood up slowly, careful not to bounce his wife around too much.

He looked down to his son, who was showing signs of waking. "What the heck are up against?" This was absolutely unbelievable. Never in his life had he fought an enemy with such strong defenses, but at least now they knew they weren't completely defenseless against their new enemy. They would have to work harder to defeat their opponent, but it wasn't impossible.

He watched as Piccolo hoisted Gohan over his shoulder. "I'll take him home, Goku."

"Wha'd I miss?" A voice called from above the group.

Usagi cringed; she knew that voice all too well. It was Mamoru. He actually had the nerve to show up after what he had pulled earlier. "Everything!" She replied with a certain rudeness in her voice.

The Senshi looked at their Princess with worried eyes. They could tell that her inability to transform to Sailor Moon was beginning to wear on her, her actions told them so.

Mamoru sighed as he lowered himself to the ground. His eyes went directly to Chi-Chi, who was softly moaning. "Good, she's safe."

Usagi scowled. "No thanks to you!" She taunted.

"What's gotten into you, Usagi?" Goku stared down at his daughter. She was sulking about something, something other than her mother's danger. He could see it in her eyes.

Usagi lightened her expression up a bit, not wanting to make a big scene in front of everyone. "It.it's nothing. Can we just go home now?"

Venus, seeing her friend's obvious distress, came to her aid. "I think that's a great idea. We're all tired from the fight, let's just call it a night." She looked to the rest of the Senshi for support.

"R.right." Mercury chimed in.

Mamoru raised a brow as he crossed his arms. His face bore a mischievous smile as he walked to his father. "Let's go, pop."

~*~*~

~~Son House~~

Usagi didn't feel like talking much that evening, and neither did her father. Both of them had been put through a lot emotionally, though Usagi had more to worry about than her father. She was still unable to transform into Sailor Moon and she had no idea why. Her crystal really had died, but why? There was no reason for it to just stop working. It was supposed to be a source of everlasting power. As long as there was love in her heart, it was meant to work. But it hadn't, and there was no explaining why.

She sulked around the living room for the rest of the night. Although she didn't feel like talking, she still wanted to be in the company of her father. They both sat on the sofa, completely silent. Neither of them had said a word to one another since they had returned home. Usagi sat on one end, while Goku sat on the other; both were completely lost in their own thoughts.

Goku had been given a real kick of reality today. His wife could have died, and nearly did. None of his children had ever been in the position of nearly dying, and he had hoped they never were. The feeling that had rushed through his body when he saw Chi-Chi's body fall lifelessly to the ground was worse than anything that he had ever felt in his life. It was worse than the knowledge that he had been the one responsible for killing his grandfather. At least then he wasn't aware of what was going on. He didn't have to suffer the pain of watching.

He looked to his silent daughter, who appeared to be off in a world of her own. A million questions were running through his mind, mostly about why she hadn't been able to transform into Sailor Moon. "Usagi." He called softly, not wanting to disturb her.

She barely flinched at the sound of his voice. She had hardly heard his words. Questions of her own were racing through her mind, and those were taking priority over anything her father had to say. She looked as if she were in a total trance.

"Usagi." He called again, this time reaching over and shaking her shoulder.

Usagi sighed as she looked up into her father's tired eyes. "What?" Her voice was terse and her eyes told him to leave her alone.

Goku backed away, not wanting to upset her. "Are you ok?"

Usagi turned her view away from her father and continued to stare at the wall directly in front of her. "I'm fine."

It hurt him to see her in such a state, but it hurt him more that she wouldn't share her worries with him. "If you want to talk I'll be outside." He decided not to push her into sharing with him, that would only make her mood worse. Instead he stood up and made his way downstairs.

Usagi hardly noticed him leaving; but she did, however, notice a small black cat jump into her lap. "What do you want Luna?" She asked, groaning.

Luna sat down on Usagi's legs with a frown. "You shouldn't be so rude to your father, Usagi. He's worried about you."

Usagi looked down at the cat, unable to ignore her. "What you talking about, Luna?"

"You completely blew him off like he was nobody. Why don't you go apologize?"

Usagi rolled her eyes as she leaned her head against the back of the sofa. "No I didn't. He asked if I was ok, and I said I was fine. Now get off, Luna. I want to be alone." She picked up the cat and set her on the floor.

Luna wasn't going to just drop the subject though. She jumped back into Usagi's lap and started to climb her chest. "You didn't see the hurt in his eyes, Usagi. He wasn't asking if you were ok in the sense that you're feeling alright, he wanted to find out what's been bothering you for the past two days."

Usagi brought her attention back down to the cat, though said nothing. Now that she thought about it, she had been a little hard on him. She had refused to tell him earlier what was bothering her, and even now she was refusing. "I guess I could go."

Luna lightened up her frown. "Good girl. Go down there and have a nice, long talk with him, Usagi. It'll be good for both of you."

Usagi nodded with a slight smile. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe it would even make her feel better. "Right." She set Luna on the seat next to her and stood up, making her way toward the stairs.

~*~*~

Mamoru had only gotten halfway home before he stopped and turned around to go back to the mountains. Something was bothering him, something he couldn't explain, and he wouldn't feel right until he set things straight.

~*~*~

Makoto and Rei returned to the shrine just after dark. They were met with the smiling face of Yuuichiro, but like Usagi, their moods weren't all that great. "Hey girls!" He called, trying hard not to look Rei in the eye.

"Hi." The girls greeted back solemnly. They passed, not even giving him a second look. They had other things to think about.

Yuuichiro's face went red. "She noticed me." He was obvious oblivious to the fact that she hadn't actually noticed him, but rather blew him off.

The girls made their way to Rei's room, completely forgetting that they had left their schoolbags back at the school. Homework wouldn't be an option for their nightly activity, but that wasn't a priority.

Rei went straight to her bed and rested her elbows on her knees. "Well that was interesting." She exclaimed sarcastically.

Makoto pulled the chair out from the desk and sat in it with her eyes fixed upon Rei. "At least we know how to defeat those monsters without using our Ki. But even if do use Ki, we can still take it down if we keep throwing stuff at it. Remember what Ami said? The shield isn't strong enough to defend against numerous amounts of attacks."

Rei sighed loudly as she threw herself back on her bed. "Yeah, that works if the monster doesn't have the stupid crystal inside it already. But we're totally reliant on the outer Senshi if it does. I don't like that."

Makoto leaned against the desk. "Neither do I."

"We need to get Usagi her power back. The power of the crystal is probably pure and strong enough to make them disintegrate if we need it."

"Agreed. Any ideas?"

Rei shook her head. "Not a one."

~*~*~

Usagi stepped outside with caution. She didn't want to startle her father, who was sitting only a few feet away from the house. His head was bowed forward, which earned him a look of content from behind. Usagi gulped as she started forward, taking light steps. She had no idea what she was going to tell her father. She knew that she had been blown him off pretty bad in the past couple of days, and he didn't really deserve it. She had just been too caught up in her emotions, her worries, that she didn't even really know how to talk about it. Add in the fact that she didn't want to worry him with yet another one of her problems; she had no idea what to do, not that now was any different.

She walked until she was at his side. He probably knew that she was there, for he could probably hear her footsteps regardless of how quiet she was trying to be, but he didn't let on his knowledge. She sat down next to him and looked up to his face, he was looking straight ahead, his eyes stark and almost lifeless. A feeling of sorrow grew in her gut as she pulled her knees against her chest and rested her arms upon them. What would she say?

"Dad?" She said softly.

His daughter's words were heard, but he didn't turn his eyes upon her. "Yes?" Goku answered, his voice almost as silent as hers.

She sighed, dropping her head to rest upon her arms. "I didn't mean to blow you off just now. I mean.I mean I was just."

Her words had caused her father to smile as he brought his attention to her. "No problem, Usagi. I know you're upset. I know you didn't want to talk."

Without lifting her head, Usagi looked up into her father's eyes. "It's not that I didn't want to talk, it's just.I'm.oh I don't know." She frowned at her own inability to share with her father, something that had always come so easily to her in the past.

Goku leaned back into the cold night grass, keeping his hands place upon his stomach and his legs bent upward. "Don't force it, you don't have to tell me." Although he told her not to, he wished she would open up and tell him what was bothering her.

Usagi frowned as she lifted her head to stare back at her father. "If you want to know what's bothering me just ask, you don't have to try and make me feel guilty!" Her expression lightened up as she realized that her words might have hurt him. "Look, I'm sorry. I just don't know what to do anymore. You're not even supposed to know that I'm Sailor Moon, not supposed to know that I.that I.I can't transform." Tears began to form in her eyes as she looked forward, trying to hide them from her father.

Goku, knowing his daughter all too well for her to hide anything from him, sat up again, placing his arm around her shoulder. "Hey, hey now. Cheer up now, come on."

Usagi turned her face away. She had no idea why she was acting like this, it was almost as if she were embarrassed to act this way in front of him. "You don't understand. I'm supposed to be able to transform and I can't."

Goku didn't force her to look at him. "It isn't the end of world, Usagi. Sure you're supposed to be able to transform, but for some reason, at this time, you can't. I'm sure you'll get the power back when you're meant to. It can't have just gone away. You are, after all, the Moon's princess, right?" Meaning every word, he tried to sound reassuring as possible.

Usagi wiped away the tears on her face. "I can't be the princess if the very power that I'm supposed to be protecting has died." She pulled away from her father and stood up. "Look at me, acting silly." She tried to dry her face with her sleeve before her father could look up, but it was too late. He was already yanking her back down.

"Where's the Usagi I know? She wouldn't be worried about such a silly thing. I'm sure it will pass, just like every other bad thing that's ever happened. Like tonight, we thought things were useless, but we didn't let that get us down. We kept fighting until we found a way to beat it."

Usagi allowed herself to sit down next to him again, this time a little more willing to let him see her face. "This is a little different than fighting an enemy. And besides, we wouldn't have won without the help of those other Senshi."

"That's what you think. We can be pretty resourceful when we need to be. We didn't need them to defeat our opponent, we pretty much had that done. We only needed them to save." His words trailed into nothingness as he was reminded of why he had come out here in the first place.

Usagi looked up at her father, who had shifted his view to the trees in the distance. "So you do know what I'm feeling?"

"Yes, I had my own worries today. But they were resolved," He looked down at Usagi, who was now looking him in the eye, "As will all of yours."

Both Saiyans' attention was brought to a figure that was fast approaching them. It was Mamoru, which surprised both of them. He was the last person they had expected to show up, especially after the cold shoulder Usagi had given him early.

Goku stood up to greet the boy. "What do you need?" He asked sternly.

Mamoru, knowing of Goku's hate for him, put his hands behind his back and looked down at Usagi. "I'd like to have a few words with Usagi, if that's ok." He said, looking back up at the girl's father.

Goku was shocked a bit by Mamoru's politeness. "Only if she wants to." He said, looking down at his daughter. She didn't look like she was in much of a mood to anyone, even after their little talk, but she did give a nod. "You're sure?

Usagi nodded again. "Yes." She stood up and dusted herself off.

Goku nodded back with his acknowledgement. "Ok." He looked on to Mamoru. "No funny business." He turned away to make his way back to the house. "I'll be in with your mother if you need anything, Usagi."

"Ok." She turned her eyes upon him. "And dad? Thanks for talking."

Goku didn't stop. "Always." And with that, he entered into the house and shut the door, leaving Usagi all alone to talk with Mamoru.

Her eyes fell back upon the boy before her. "Come to make fun of me some more?" She scoffed.

Mamoru frowned, but kept his composure. "No, actually. I've come to apologize."

Usagi snorted with a loud laugh. "You?! Apologize?! A likely story! Why have you really come?" She eyed him carefully for any sort of funny movements.

Mamoru growled quietly, trying hard not to lash out at you. "Damn you're such a girl! First you want me to be nice, and when I try, you throw it in my face! You really are a brat, aren't you!"

Usagi frowned. "I knew it! I don't have to stand here and listen to this! You're just a bully and that's all you'll ever be. You'll never amount to anything."

Mamoru was taken aback by her words. He had heard that sentence so many times in his life; by teachers, his friends, classmates, and father. It had always bothered him when his father had said it, but for some odd reason, it actually stung him hearing it from Usagi too. He answered in the only way that he knew. "And neither will you! The one thing you were destined to do, you can't even do anymore!"

He knew he had hit on a sensitive subject when he saw her face. "You're awful! I hate you Mamoru!" She turned back to run away, but was stopped by his hand around her arm. She scowled up at him, trying to break free of his firm grasp. "Let go!"

Mamoru pushed her to the ground to keep her from running back to her father. "Sit down and shut up!" He yelled, not knowing what had come over him. He paced over her. "You think you're so great, do you? You asked for that one, regardless of how wrong it was."

Usagi scurried back to her feet. "When I tell my dad what you just did.you'll be sorry. You had no right to say that to me! I'm your princess!"

"Wrong. You're the Moon's princess. You're your friends' princess, not mine. I could walk away right now and never say another word to you. It's not my duty to protect you. You just assumed it was."

"Then why don't you?" She yelled back at him, completely infuriated by the fact that he was trying to teach her something.

Mamoru glared at Usagi. "Because believe it or not, and I know I'm going to regret saying this later, but you're my friend." Usagi opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly closed it. "Now let me see your broach."

"You.I.we.what?!" Usagi couldn't find the words to express what was going on in her head at the moment.

(Right then, there you have it - all that I've written so far on this book, besides chapter 18, which has just been posted on the website. I had a nice, long run here, but it was time that I moved. I was having too many technical problems here that were preventing me from posting.)