--EXHAUSTION--


DING. The bell on the door of the Arcade was nearly drowned out by
the crash of thunder.

"Someone’s late," Motoki teased without looking up. "Too bad Rei’s
not..."

Hearing his friend trail off alarmingly, Darien whipped his head around
but managed to keep his voice calmly mocking. "Well, don’t you look
like hell."

Serena walked slowly towards the two men, pulling a folder from
underneath her dripping fleece jacket and dropping it to the counter
before seating herself on a stool. Her long silver hair was a tangled
sodden mass held back by a drenched bandana; her clothes were
soaked and plastered to her too-thin form. Her eyes were surrounded
by shadows and seemed emptier than they’d been at their first
meeting. "You’re looking a little ragged yourself, Darien," she greeted
him, her voice low and containing the slightest trace of hoarseness.

Darien glanced at himself in the mirrored wall behind the counter.
Despite his wind-whipped hair and damp, slightly rumpled attire, he
looked presentable. "At least I don’t resemble a half-drowned rat."

"Your parents must be so proud," she murmured without looking at
him, missing the stiffness of his posture and the deadly glare he
directed at her. //She doesn’t know. She couldn’t know. It’s just a
lame comeback...//

"Yes, I’m sure they are," he replied, his voice cold and cutting more
than usual. "At least as proud as your parents are of your lovely test
scores," he gestured cruelly to the paper that had slid partially out of
the folder, specifically indicating the large red 30% marked on top.
"Such a wonderful way of representing your country and family. Tell
me, what do you do for an encore?"

She didn’t move. Her body was completely still; Darien wasn’t even
certain she breathed, until she turned her gaze towards him. He was
hard pressed to suppress a shudder as her completely dead, empty
eyes met his own. "I’m going to have a coffee," she said softly, with
no inflection whatsoever in her voice.

"Motoki, is there any way I could come back and make myself a
drink?" The blonde man had followed their conversation and looked
at her worriedly.

"Are you sure caffeine is what you need?"

She half-smiled at him. "It’ll do."

"I’m not supposed to let people back here, but..." He glanced around.
"Nobody official looking in sight," and he motioned her behind the
counter.

Moving slowly and carefully around the small kitchen, she began to
brew espresso. //She looks almost like she’s in pain.// Darien quickly
pushed his thoughts away from the silver-haired girl. //I have no
reason to care--she’s just another high school girl, with no thoughts in
her head other than boys and how to con her teachers out of failing
her.//

But immediately, another portion of his mind jumped in. //Isn’t that a
little cynical, even for YOU? Firstly, you met her, what, two weeks
ago? And when have you EVER seen her act like the other twits in
here?// Darien sighed. //Am I the only man on earth who tells his own
mind to bite me on a regular basis?//

"No Motoki, I know how much espresso costs here. This is the
amount you’d charge if I drank them separately." Serena was shoving
a small bundle of bills at the slightly stunned young man, as she
returned to her seat. She sipped from a large coffee mug that she’d
take from her bag--one that could easily hold three or four normal
cups of coffee.

"Five shots of espresso, some milk and a half cup of sugar--that can’t
be good for you, Serena! Are you certain you’re alright?"

"Of course, Motoki." //If two or more battles a night for a week-and-a-
half don’t kill me, nothing will.// "I just haven’t gotten as much sleep
lately as I’d like. Too much studying..." She glanced down once
more at the test before shoving the folder into her backpack.

"Maybe you should have slept...it might have done you more good."
The words slipped out of Darien’s mouth almost automatically.

"Perhaps I should have." Once again, her voice was completely
lacking in any kind of intonation. She set down her coffee, reached
behind her neck, and--careful to avoid tangling her hair further--
unhooked a slender chain, pulling out from beneath her shirt a silver
knotwork pendant set with a small crystal.

"That’s gorgeous, Serena. Do you wear it every day?" Motoki asked
as she began carefully drying the pendant with a napkin.

She nodded and her voice softened for a moment. "It was a gift from
my mother." Any response either man would have made was
drowned out by the voices of four girls entering the Arcade.

"There you are Serena--why’d you run out of school so fast?"

"Ugh, I HATE thunder!"

"Oh, calm down, it’s only a bit of noise and water."

"Good afternoon Serena, Darien, Motoki."

Serena’s eyes were nearly closed as she drank her over-caffeinated
beverage. "Sorry I ran out, girls. I was supposed to meet someone
here, but he’s a bit late."

"He?" Minako and Makoto were suddenly seated on the stools next to
her. "Damn girl, don’t you work fast!"

Serena remained still, her voice remained almost inaudible. "Calm
down, Mako-chan. Z is my cousin."

DING.

Serena gulped down another mouthful of espresso before turning to
greet the tall, slender man with long blonde hair that stood behind her
stool, smiling down at her softly. "Hello, Z. Meet Darien, Motoki, Rei,
Minako, Makoto, and Ami. Everyone, this is Z."

The four senshi and Darien were struck by an overwhelming sense of
recognition, and once again, Darien felt himself fighting off the urge to
shove the man away from Serena. Yet their greetings were anything
but strained.

"I’m sorry I’ve got to steal her away, but I’ve classes tonight." Z
smiled, and with a half-hearted wave, Serena followed him out of the
arcade.

"I’m starting to worry about her," Minako remarked with worried eyes.
The other girls and Motoki nodded agreement as Darien simply stared
after the retreating figures.

~~~

"Banphrionsa, Neph asked me to tell you he’s taking your shift
tonight," Z told her as he started the car. "He sounded rather
emphatic about it."

She sighed and closed her eyes, but wrenched them open almost
immediately. //That way lies sleep.// "Z, I know that Arianne isn’t
coming in to cook tonight, and I know how stressful it is to try to cover
the kitchen AND watch the common room. I’ll be fine." She graced
him with a weak smile that came nowhere near her eyes. "Besides, I
thought we agreed: no mother-henning."

He stopped the car and looked at her sternly. "And I thought we
agreed that you wouldn’t do this to yourself." This time she allowed
her eyes to close as she turned her head away, and he continued
relentlessly. "My apologies, Banphrionsa, but it needs to be said. Jed
is ready to strap you to your bed, and Mal wants nothing more than to
shut down your mind for three days or so. You need to rest. You’re
beyond exhausted."

She turned back to him, the lost aloneness of her eyes overwhelming.
"I have my responsibilities, Z. You know that. And you know I’d
rather die than leave them unfulfilled. I’ll rest when I’m able." Tossing
back the last of the still warm espresso, she climbed from the car and
walked to the door of her apartment.

//Yes, banphrionsa, you’ll rest when you’re able...or when you allow
yourself...or when you’re dead. I’d say ‘whichever comes first’ but I
have the sinking feeling they might be simultaneous.//

~~~

"Guys, I’m starting to get worried." Ami began the meeting as soon as
Darien slipped into a seat by the door to the fire room of the temple.

"Why, Ami, I never knew you cared."

The blue-haired girl didn’t even bother with a glare in his direction.
"We should have had an attack by now. Before the arrival of Sailor
Moon, droids were appearing at an interval of two to four days. We
haven’t seen anything in nearly a week and a half."

"So let me get this straight," Makoto raised an eyebrow, "you want to
fight monsters at three in the morning?"

"No, baka!" Rei snorted from her place in front of the fire. "But it’s
worrisome that this Dark Moon family hasn’t tried anything. I would
have expected attacks to INCREASE now that there’s another
senshi."

"Maybe they’re building up to something big?" Artemis suggested
from his place on the table.

"That’s what worries me," Ami now looked up from her computer. "I’m
been running continual scans for the past two nights, and I’ve seen
momentary spikes in the energy readings of the city."

"Dark energy?" Minako entered the conversation.

"That’s just it," Ami sounded frustrated. "I can’t get a decent reading
on them. For example, last night the computer picked up something
around one and around three. Both times, the general energy level of
the city spiked rather drastically for roughly five hundredths of a
second. My computer is good, but even it requires more than a
fraction of a second to trace, record, and analyze a reading." She
sighed. "It could be anything."

"I’d say someone was blocking your computer, but no one has a
reaction time that fast," Darien offered.

"I wouldn’t rule anything out," Rei countered hesitantly. "I’ve been
able to get nothing by fire-reading--not even a general sense of ‘all’s
well, stop worrying.’"

"The fire’s got an attitude problem? Like fire, like priestess," Makoto
quipped.

Rei gave her a withering stare. "Something’s going on, and someone
is trying to keep us from finding out about it."

"Have any of you felt anything out of the ordinary lately?" Darien
asked thoughtfully, looking at each one. "At least one of you usually
knows when an attack is about to begin." They shook their heads.
"Hm. So whoever is blocking us--if someone is interfering, and we’re
not just overreacting--is capable of meddling with the fire, Ami’s
computer, and our minds." He scowled, "I don’t like that."

Makoto rolled her eyes but refrained from commenting on his last
statement. "So what do we do about it?"

The other four warriors shrugged, but the white cat spoke up. "During
the Silver Millennium, we posted watches over the planets--one
senshi in a trance, ‘watching’ with her mind, the other guarding her--
but that’s out of the question now: none of you could carry on a
normal life if you were forced to stop sleeping every other night." He
sighed.

"I suppose we do what we’ve always done," Ami stated softly.

"Fight when we have to, and prepare as much as possible until then?"

"Hai."

There was silence for a moment, each warrior lost in his or her own
thoughts.

Minako shook her head, catching the attention of the other senshi.
"Speaking of preparation, Artemis, what are the chances of Sailor
Moon training with us?"

"Mina! She may be--tentatively--an ally, but we don’t even know
who she really is!"

"Calm down Rei. I’m not suggesting we reveal OUR identities, just
that we should train with her as senshi. She obviously has different
powers and abilities...not to mention the crystal. We need to work her
into our strategies, and work out some new battle plans. Otherwise
we’ll end up killing someone."

"That’s a good idea, Mina," Makoto seemed somewhat lost in thought.
"Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll see her until the next droid shows up,
and she’s as good at immediate disappearance as Tuxedo Kamen."

Darien raised an eyebrow. "So do to her what you did to me. My
shoulder still aches occasionally."

"Wimp. I didn’t tackle you that hard."

"Children!" Artemis intervened quickly. "I’ll speak with Luna later this
evening, both about the lack of droids and Sailor Moon joining your
training sessions."

"Oh, Artemis! You have a date and you didn’t tell me!"

"Oh gods...she’s squealing," Artemis scrunched backwards, away
from Minako.

"Sorry, cat, you brought this one on yourself," Makoto grinned at the
poor feline who was swept into the blonde senshi’s arms.

"You WILL tell me ALL about it..."

"I guess the meeting’s over," Darien said, and with a nod, slipped out
the door of the temple.

"And how often have you two been ‘meeting’?..."

Ami turned to Rei with a smile. "I’ve always wondered how she can
change gears so fast. It’s almost unnatural."

Rei just shrugged as Makoto grinned wickedly at Artemis’ look of
sheer pain.

~~~

The alley was too dark for her to see her enemy clearly, her only
indications of its attacks the vague shifting of the shadows. It was too
smart to be distracted by her tiara and fast enough to avoid her
stronger attacks, so she was reduced to trapping it in the back of the
deserted alley, and keeping it there with physical attacks. Her left hip
ached from the blow the first droid of the night--a gruesome scaly
blue thing that she’d dusted just as the tingling in her head announced
the arrival of her current opponent--had landed. //What I wouldn’t
give for one of Mars’ charms right now. If it would just hold still...//

Suddenly the sharp pain at the back of her mind told her that a
subspace portal had opened, once more dropping a monster to wreak
havoc on Tokyo. //Even if I dust this one now, I’m too drained to
teleport. Running to the park will take to long. Damn...// She
proceeded to mentally curse--in five different languages--her own
weakness and Rubeus’ timing.

"Moon Tiara Action!" When the shadowy droid leapt away, she
snapped her eyes shut, throwing her body into a trance, seeking the
four links and snapping them from their dormancy. The occupants of
four different beds around Tokyo immediately awoke to an
overwhelming sense of danger, scrambled from their beds, called out
their transformation commands, and ran for the park. A fifth mind felt
those transformations for the first time in over a week, and rolled from
his bed, suddenly clothed in a tuxedo. Meanwhile, Sailor Moon
wrenched herself from the trance a moment too late. Though her
lapse lasted only a second, the droid was already upon her, smashing
her to the ground, grinding her already bruised side into the concrete.

Pushing the pain into the a deep recess of her mind, heedless of the
consequences she’d pay later for such a desperate measure, she
arched her back and kicked with both legs, putting the power of her
entire body behind the move. The droid went flying into a wall behind
the warrior, who immediately began to stagger to her feet, using her
silver staff as a crutch.

//Get down, Luna!//

As the droid launched itself once more towards the somewhat
battered senshi, she thrust the butt of her staff into the ground. With
no time to focus the energy of the crystal, it burst out in all directions,
taking the form of bright silver light that whipped around and through
everything. The chaotic play of energy washed through the alley, and
as soon as Sailor Moon felt the fine dust that was once the droid
blowing around her face, she slammed her will over the crystal,
silencing it almost immediately. //I’m sorry, I know you don’t like that,//
she addressed the stone mentally.

It pulsed with a low silver glow, as she staggered away from the wall,
gasping for air. "Sailor Moon?" the black cat asked tentatively.

//Come on, Luna. There’s another one at the park.// And she loped
off, limping slightly.

~~~

"WHERE IS SHE?" Mars growled from her position in front of
Mercury.

They’d destroyed the droid easily, but the unexpected arrival of
Rubeus was taxing their abilities. Now Mercury sat on the ground a
few paces behind the senshi of fire, nursing a broken ankle and
running scans with her visor, while the other three senshi and Tuxedo
Kamen attempted to keep Rubeus from gaining the upper hand.
Unfortunately, all of them were tiring.

"Venus Love Chain..."

"WATCH OUT!"

There was no way anyone could stop the black energy dart that flew
towards the senshi of love. The rest watched helplessly as Venus
stood her ground, concentrating on her attack, determined to carry it
through, no matter the consequences.

Equally unexpected was the burst of white and silver light that shot
towards Venus, weaving in and around to form a dome of knotwork--
the same knotwork that appeared on Sailor Moon’s staff. The dart
impacted on the silver energy and promptly disintegrated, though the
shield remained. The others looked over to see Sailor Moon striding
purposefully into the small clearing from the shadow of the trees, her
staff glowing as she twirled it with one hand, weaving intricate
patterns in the air to match the patterns flowing over the dome
surrounding Venus.

Suddenly, when she’d nearly reached the interrupted battle, she leapt
into the air and hovered, facing Rubeus above the heads of the other
senshi. When the movement of her staff ceased, the dome faded
away, and Venus stepped forward to join Mars and Jupiter.

"Come to join the fun, Sailor Moon? I see you haven’t solved that
tardiness problem. You should really be more careful, someone could
get hurt." If Rubeus meant to taunt Sailor Moon into losing her
control, he failed. She remained still, her staff ready for an attack, her
dead blue eyes matching his mad gaze. His voice dropped to a
whisper only audible to the senshi directly before him. "You won’t be
killing me this evening, bitch. You’re drained--you couldn’t even keep
me from disposing of THEM if I set my mind to it."

Raising his voice once more, he grinned evilly. "Since I can’t even get
a stimulating conversation out of you twits, let alone a decent fight..."
He disappeared into a dark portal.

For a long moment, no one moved. Then, excruciatingly slowly,
Sailor Moon began to sink back down to the ground. When her feet
rested once more upon the earth, the senshi’s paralysis broke.

"Where the HELL were you?" Mars repeated her snarl. She moved
to approach the lone warrior but was restrained by Venus’ hand. The
senshi of fire, however, was beyond consolation. "You nearly DIED
because she was late, Venus, and Mercury’s hurt. After SHE," and
she turned once more to unleash her formidable temper on Sailor
Moon, "went to all the trouble to warn us about that red-haired
bastard, she doesn’t EVEN BOTHER TO SHOW UP!"

"Mars! Calm down! Venus is fine and I’ve only got a broken ankle..."

"My deepest apologies." Sailor Moon’s voice stopped all movement
and speech. It lacked any semblance of emotion, it was quiet,
chillingly cold, deadly, and...hateful.

The silver-suited senshi stepped forward towards the wounded senshi
of ice, but before her first step was completed, Jupiter and Mars were
powering up.

"Apologies don’t cut it, Sailor Moon." Jupiter’s voice was cold. "I’d
advise you to keep your distance."

Sailor Moon’s paused, then closed her eyes, her expression
remaining unchanged as she raised her left arm. Silver energy
coalesced around her outstretched hand and shot forward to engulf
Mercury’s bloody ankle.

With a shriek of rage, Mars unleashed her fires upon the newest
senshi.

"NO! Mars, she’s healing..." The newly arrived Luna’s call came to
late to stop the attack.

Mars had retained enough coherency to aim. The silver energy
around Sailor Moon’s hand fought with the deadly flames; her long
white glove was charred to ash almost instantaneously, and the skin
underneath blistered severely, before both energies disappeared.
Once again, for a long moment, all was still.

Slowly opening her eyes, Sailor Moon gazed the wounded warrior still
cradling her ankle. "Sailor Mercury?"

Surprise warred with fear, as the blue-haired senshi met Sailor
Moon’s empty gaze. "It’s completely healed."

With a small nod, the senshi of the moon swept her gaze over the
other warriors. Mars looked horrified, Jupiter and Venus were
shocked, and Tuxedo Kamen simply returned her gaze. "Once more,
I offer my deepest apologies." With a bow, she turned to leave.

"Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Kamen’s voice was soft, but didn’t disguise his
anger at her behavior. "Were you going to bother with an
explanation?"

Once more, she turned to face the five warriors, watching Venus help
Mercury to a standing position as Jupiter and Mars began to recover
from their shock. //Venus could have died, Mercury was hurt, I almost
let it happen again.// She turned her gaze on Tuxedo Kamen, not
allowing the overwhelming sorrow that threatened to send her
screaming into darkness show in her eyes.

"I have no acceptable reason," she said simply.

"SAILOR MOON!" This time it was Luna’s exclamation that stopped
everyone. "Tell them...you were..."

"Late." Though the word was said blandly, the senshi and Tuxedo
Kamen could sense it held overwhelming underlying implications.
"And there is no excuse for that."

"Sailor Moon..." Luna’s voice softened with sadness.

"Come, Luna, it’s nearly dawn." The cat responded by leaping directly
to the young warrior’s shoulder, avoiding her burned arm. Sailor
Moon walked into the shadow of the trees and vanished.

"Oh my dear gods..." Mars was staring at her hands, as her actions
caught up with her.

Venus immediately took action, grabbing the senshi of fire in a tight
embrace, easing her to a seated position on the ground. "Jupiter,
take Mercury home, I’ll handle Mars. Tuxedo Kamen..." But the
masked man was already gone. Shrugging off his hasty exit, the
senshi of love turned to her dear friend and spoke softly. "Come on
Mars, let’s get you back to the temple and we’ll talk about it, okay?"
She led the now silent Mars away.

~~~

"Call them, Sailor Moon. You can’t make it back on your own." The
cat’s voice was flat with disapproval.

"No Luna. I shall be perfectly fine."

"Like hell you..."

"Good evening, Tuxedo Kamen."

The masked, caped man appeared before her. As he watched her,
he noticed again, how small and slender she was--almost skinny.
She leaned against a tree, her burned arm cradled against her chest,
her silver staff resting in the crook of her unharmed limb. Her
breathing was shallow, her eyes were closed, and her face was
expressionless. She did not move as he approached her, though
Luna jumped from her shoulder to stand between them.

"That was a rather pretty speech back there," he bit out, infuriated,
"but I’d like something a little more substantial. Like what exactly you
were doing that was ever so much more important than helping the
senshi."

Silence reigned beneath the trees, as neither moved. Finally, just as
Luna was about to answer for her charge, Sailor Moon began to
speak quietly, without opening her eyes. "As I said, there is no
acceptable reason for my tardiness. I can only offer my apologies and
do what I can to atone for my absence."

Tuxedo Kamen’s eyes hardened. "Oh yes, I’m certain Mercury is
feeling just FABULOUS right now, and what about Mars? You
goaded her into attacking you and then left; if I know her, she’s
carrying a very large load of guilt right now that she doesn’t deserve.
And on top of that, none of them will get any more sleep the rest of
the night, because the unharmed ones will be caring for the others."
His accusations became increasingly threatening, though they were
delivered in a deadly calm.

Her carefully constructed mind shields were being torn to shreds by
his words. The mad, swirling storm of grief and hatred pushed at the
bonds her mind had constructed around it, threatening to engulf her.
Her soul screamed at the nearness of the other half of the severed
bond and the sheer amount of anger that radiated from it. With all of
her personal energy expended, she drew liberally on the power of the
crystal, carefully dampening the telltale glow, to replace the crumbling
walls. It was all she could do to suppress the sobs and shudders she
wanted to give in to.

//I will not break down. I swore I’d not do this again... Of course, I
also swore I’d not endanger them again.//

When she didn’t respond, Tuxedo Kamen took a step forward, unsure
of himself. //I don’t know whether to slap her or carry her home and
keep her from ever stepping into harm’s way again...// That errant
thought--and Luna’s warning hiss--brought his anger forward once
more. He hated uncertainty.

"We worked quite nicely as a team, BEFORE you ever arrived. And
frankly, after seeing your ‘help,’" he spat the word at her, mockingly, "I
don’t think we need any more of it. In fact, I think it would be wise if
you let the other senshi battle alone from now on. Less of them are
injured that way." He turned, with a swirl of his cape, and melted back
into the shadows beneath the trees.

Sailor Moon didn’t move for several minutes. Finally Luna nudged her
leg, drawing her attention.

//Let’s go home, Luna,// came her toneless mind-voice.

//Call the boys, they can come get you...//

//No, Luna, I can get home on my own. I’ll not disturb them at this
hour.//

//You can’t teleport, you’re exhausted.//

In response, the senshi simply held out her uninjured arm, leaving
Luna little choice but to leap to her shoulder. With a shuddering sigh,
they disappeared.

//No acceptable reason at all...//

~~~

//Dissention in the ranks, uncertainty in the minds of the soldiers,
complete exhaustion--such wonderful things to happen to an enemy,
and all at the cost of only a few droids.// He chuckled as he swirled
his omnipresent brandy glass. //Soon, princess, the war will be won.
You will be a prisoner within your own soul...//