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Lady of Pluto: Well, thank you, ever so much. I'm happy you like the story.

Kes Yamahi: Thank you! Yeah, I was getting sick of stories that had happy endings. I really appreciate the compliment.

transcendent: Yay, transcendent is back! There are a lot of Sailor Moon websites, but I'll just stick with my basic plot. I find that too many characters complicate a story sometimes.

Chapter Ten

I told Amy and Lita the whole story of what happened that fiery night. I remembered every detail from my dreams, so it wasn't hard. The horrific scene was burned into my memory permanently. When I was finished, I was meet with dead quiet.

            "Do you believe me?" I asked cautiously.

            "Yes," they both said.

            "That's exactly what Luna said she thought happened. Wow, Mina, why didn't you say something earlier?" Lita asked.

            "I guess I figured you wanted a scapegoat. I even blamed myself for a while. I still kind of do. I decided that you should probably know the truth so you could make up your minds about what you wanted to do."

            Lita twirled her hair between her fingers. "I'm so sorry, Mina."

            "Like I told Amy, it's too late for sorry. Nothing can be changed." I got up from my position on the floor. They looked up at me and I could tell that they truly wanted my forgiveness. Now they know how it feels. I would accept their apologies, but I was jaded now. It took a tragedy for me to see how my supposed friends really felt about me, yet I was glad that it happened. I wasn't glad that Serena had to die for me to see it, just glad that I saw it.

            "I quit," I said quietly. Artemis looked up at me from the floor. He was just as surprised with my decision as they were. Hell, I was surprised myself. I hadn't gone to Amy's with the thought of quitting, since that wasn't something I did often, if at all. But things had changed between us. Part of it was my doing, and I knew that. I really should have at least told them what my view of the situation was and let them judge for themselves. Yet, if they were really as loyal of friends as they claimed to be, they wouldn't have deserted me in the first place, whether or not I was the cause of Serena's death.

            "What?" Lita cried jumping up. "You can't!"

            "I can, and I am. You abandoned me, now I'm abandoning you." The words sounded horrible coming out of my mouth, but it felt slightly good saying them.

            "Two wrongs don't make a right," Amy pointed out gently.

            "True, but I can't stay in the group. Nothing will ever be the same. I've lost the goodness I felt for you. If you can turn on me that fast, who knows when it will happen again?"

            "It won't!" Lita protested.

            "You can't be sure of that. I rather be lonely than have to have this hanging over our heads." I gave them a small smile. "Sailor V rides again." I opened the door and left them. I wasn't happy about my choice. I was satisfied.

            "I didn't realize how much the group relied on Serena so heavily to keep them together," Artemis noted as we walked. "The minute she died, everything fell apart."

            "Serena meant more to us than we'll ever know." I glanced down at him. "I wonder if the mask still fits."

            "We'll find out soon enough."

            Three days later, Lita informed me that Mina quit. I wasn't exactly shocked, for I figured something like that was bound to happen. We were on the brink of ruin; everyone felt it. It was only a matter of time before it became too much for someone. Mina was that someone, however, understandably so. She had guilt issues she needed to work out, and frankly, we were not the ones that could help her. We were all dealing with it. I especially could not assist her in letting go of her guilt. Not when I felt so…empty.

 I had lost my loathing of Mina when Amy pointed out that the group crumbled because of me. I still thought about that day; they day our lives seemed to go just beyond our grasps where we could safely control the directions in which they were going. Of course, Setsuna would argue that or lives were never really completely under our control. I didn't like Mina as I had before any of this occurred; yet, I didn't hate her. I suppose you could call my feelings towards her tolerance. I acknowledged her existence, though I didn't feel as if her being there was of any importance. I wasn't sad when Lita told me the news, nonetheless. I was happy for her. She put up with a lot of crap over the weeks after Serena left and she hadn't deserved any of it. She was alone again, she reverted back to her pre-senshi days, and I hoped that she was all right with that. I wanted to apologize to her, it just wasn't in my nature to admit fault like that. Besides, I didn't think she would accept it and the defiant part of me insisted I did nothing wrong, which the other part of me agreed to.

            When I thought about it, all of us were alone. We had each other, but Serena took away one of the only things we had in common. Now we were like strangers. Strangers united only in battle. It was depressing that one person kept us together and we couldn't stay together when she was gone. I suppose hating Mina was my way of keeping us as a group. That was stupid, I realized, and unfair. Although it had worked briefly. Luna was right, Serena would have been so disappointed in us. We betrayed her and her memory. Our only hope now was not to let history repeat itself. All we could do was move on with our lives, and strive for the greatness that Serena always saw in us. Maybe someday we would attain it or, if we were lucky, we would at least get half way there.

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So, that's it. What can I say, except a giant thanks to all my reviewers? Without reviewers, I would not be here posting stories. Much love to you all. If I think of anything good enough, I'll be back. Until then…

Peace, love, and anime.

Plutonian Thunderstorm