"Rei, are you sure?" Makoto choked, reaching for a chair to steady her weaking legs.

Sipping on a hot cup of tea, the fire priestess nodded, her eyes far away. "After she came home, she called Mamoru and told him she was no longer his concern."

"But why!" the brunette cried, tears prickling at the edge of her eyes. "No! There has to be a misunderstanding!"

Rei and Minako glanced at each other, rattled by the woman's hysteria. Sitting on either side of her, they pulled her into a group hug, rocking her as she sobbed. "Mako?"

"What else is there left to believe in? They were the one secure foundation I had left and now it too has crumpled with the wind. Please, you have to fix it!" In desparation, she grabbed Minako's arms, oblivious to the grimace of pain on her face. "You're the senshi of love, aren't you?"

"I can't fix what isn't there," Minako whispered, her blue eyes connecting with Makoto's brown ones.

"Minako, you knew about this?" asked Rei.

"The reason they broke apart is because they didn't love each other now or in the past."

"What about the silver millineum, the future and Chibi-Usa? You can't deny what you saw! Besides, Mamoru and Usagi have broken up before; maybe he had another nightmare?" Makoto shouted.

"That's enough!" Rei yelled, slamming her cup down and shattering it into several pieces. "Usagi needs to know she has her friends to count on. To tell you the truth, I'm not that surprised she broke up with him. Where was he when she was in trouble? Why did a stranger have to bring her home and third, where is Mercury?"

"What stranger?" Minako asked, picking up a strange vibe. "Is he a potential enemy or a friend?"

"There's a powerful aura around him that's neither evil nor good."

Minako rubbed Makoto's back, disconcerted by her silence and lack of response to the situation. 'Why is she taking this so hard?'

Usagi wasn't paying attention to the items in the windows, or the people she kept bumping into. 'Why did I do that? We've been together for four years and I'm throwing it away like it meant nothing!'

Tired and needing more time to think, she stopped at the food court and sat in an isolated booth her mind deep in concentration. 'I love him, don't I? Oh Mamoru, why didn't you come? Did I do something wrong?'

She almost missed the times when Mamoru would taunt her about failed test exams or klutz attacks on the side walks. 'At least he paid attention then. I can't explain it, but we've grown distant and ever since Vegeta appeared, I've almost forgotten what his face looks like.'

"Usagi broke up with you?"

Hearing her name, she lifted her head from the table, afraid to make a sound lest she be discovered. 'Why is Mamoru with Ami?'

"I don't know what happened, Ami! What am I going to do? The last thing I wanted to do was make her feel unwanted, but I don't love her!"

She told herself she didn't care, the truth like a dull knife twisting in her heart, but she was too numb to cry her anguish. 'Why did he lie to me?'

"I told you to tell her months ago, Mamoru!"

"Don't you think I tried, Ami! We owe her everything; how can I take her hopes and dreams away?"

"Mamoru...," Ami whispered, "I don't know what to tell you."

"Sometimes I asked myself if she was really in love with me, or with the word? When I broke up with her the first time, it nearly destroyed her and the mission, and I would rather die than let her suffer that kind of pain again."

"Even though it's a lie."

"I'm sorry, Ami."

"Wait!" She cried out, watching him leave in disappear. "I understand why, but it still hurts! Why do we have to be controlled by destiny?"

Long after they had left, Usagi remained in her seat, her face stained with tears of sorrow. 'Have I been so selfish that I was blind to their love? I know what I have to do, but will Pluto understand?'

One week later

The gentle waves of the ocean felt wonderful against her ankles, the warmth filling her with an inner peace that she hadn't felt for several days. She had been avoiding Rei and the other senshi, but she couldn't bare to see the disappointment in their eyes, especially Makoto. 'I don't know why, but I know she's not going to take this well. I'm so sorry, Mako-chan!'

"Why are you alone again?"

Laughing quietly, she tilted her head to see him and gave him a sad smile. "I don't remember a time when I wasn't."

Kneeling down in front of her, he reached for her long strands of hair and ran them through his fingers. "Why do you let him treat you this way?"

"I'm as much too blame as he is, blinded by the truth that's been in front of me for several years now."

"That is?"

"We all have a destiny, some more than one; but it's the choices we make that alter the course of events throughout history. I didn't understand what Pluto meant by the future never being constant, but now I do. Mamoru was a dream, nothing more and nothing less. By holding on to him, I hurt the very people I've sworn to protect."

"You're still willing to defend him? Why?"

"Friendship is the most powerful gift in the universe and I would be more devestated if I lost that than if I lost a word that I don't understand." Usagi stood up "I have to go; thank you for listening."

Running up behind her, he pulled her back against himself, his breath blowling softly against her ear; "Stay," he commanded.

"Won't this mess with the future?"

"Does it matter?" Pluto said. "Sailor Cosmos came into effect because of her path with Mamoru, but Usagi is not aware of that."

"You mean it wasn't suppose to happen?" Uranus gasped.

The time guardian nodded, her eyes never leaving the couple standing on the beach in comfortable silence. "He is her other half."

Ami stepped away from the library, her unread books in her hands. 'I need to study, but I can't stop thinking about Usagi.' Running nervous fingers through her blue hair, she wished it would rain, a reflection of everyones mood lately. The other senshi were angry, not that she could blame them. 'Everything is such a mess.'

Turning a corner, she never saw the woman sitting on the wall, waiting silently for her to pass. "Ami?"

Screaming, her books flew in different directions and she looked around for the voice's owner. "Usagi?" She had a hard time recognizing the person, hair more silver than gold, and with eyes that seemed to see through to the center of her being. "Is that you?"

Picking up a strand of hair, Usagi stared at it for several minutes before she let it fall back to her side. "Can we talk?"

Ami paled, but she reminded herself that Usagi needed to know the truth, the lies having gone far enough. "Sure," she whispered.

"Do you hate me so much that you couldn't talk to me about Mamoru? I'm your best friend and you didn't trust me."

Usagi never raised her voice, her expression calm and regal, but it was more powerful than if she had. Dropping the remainder of her books, tears in her eyes, Ami ran to her friend and grabbed her hands. "No, dear god Usagi! I didn't... I mean... God, we didn't want to hurt you!"

"Do you love him?"

"What can I say without you hating me, Usagi?"

Sighing, Usagi gently took her friend by the shoulders and smiled. "Tell me the truth, Ami; that's all I'm asking for."

"Words can't describe what I feel for him Usagi. I, we, never meant for this to happen, I swear!"

"How long have you known?"

"Do you remember when the heart snatchers took my heart crystal?" When Usagi nodded, she continued; "That day, before the heart snatchers took it, Mamoru told me not to give up on my studies, that there needed to be more doctors as kind and smart as myself. When he showed up at the pool, I realized then that I felt something, but I pushed it to the back of my mind. Mamoru was in love with you, at least that's what I thought until after the battle with Chaos."

"I found him depressed and alone in the park, but when I asked him what was wrong, his eyes clouded in terror. He was hesitant to tell me at first because of how close you and I were, but finally he admitted that he never loved you." Afraid to look into her friend's eyes, she stared at the cracks in the side-walk, finding the little bugs interesting. "Can you ever forgive us?"

The last thing Ami expected was for Usagi to burst out laughing, her silver-blue eyes sparkling in amusement. "Ami, why would I be mad? I should be thanking you instead." Sighing, "If only you had told me sooner, I wouldn't have wasted four years of my life."

"I don't understand," Ami said, floored by Usagi's compassion.

Leaning back, Usagi stared at the sky, watching the birds sing and dance. "For a long time, I wondered about Chaos and the little girl, Chibi Chibi. She was so sad, more than a girl of five should have been."

"I don't remember her."

"She came shortly after Chaos stole your star seed. Her hair was in small little buns, her blue eyes so expressive and she didn't say anything but chibi-chibi for a long time."

"You loved her, didn't you?"

"She reminded me of Chibi-Usagi and she took away the pain of my shattered soul. Every time one of the senshi disappeared, she was there to shoulder the hurt and I never realized why until my confrontation at the Cauldron. She was my future self, thousands of years after the fall of crystal tokyo."

"Maybe I shouldn't have seen her, but for the first time, I doubted if my future with Mamoru was the right path."

"You've grown up, Usagi..."

"I don't know about that," she giggled, "I've just seen too much to allow my heart to be controlled by destiny any more."

"You're not going to hate Mamoru are you?"

"No, but I wouldn't mind making him squirm a little." Tapping the concrete wall, mischeif sparkling in her eyes, "Besides, he's too much of a book nerd for me and I hate classical music."

Ami laughed and hugged her friend. "I promise to make this up to you."

"Buy me lunch."

"Deal."

'Where am I?' Vegeta demanded, the darkness smothering him.

'A time long forgotten your majesty.'

'Who are you? Reveal yourself, coward!'

A woman with long silver-hair appeared before him, an exact replica of Usagi. "If you wish to know my name, remember who you are." Fading away, her voice echoing through the shadows of his mind; 'Remember... Remember...'

Vegeta woke in a cold sweat, his heart beating against his chest. "Remember what?" he swore. His head hurt and for five minutes, he rocked back and forth, the pain slowly residing. Ever since he had met Usagi, he was on the verge of remembering something crucial, but it refused to come to him. "Damn it!"