5:18pm
        “I’m sorry Rei-chan, but there was nothing that I could do if he already knew, he recognized us from the Kuriverse, I never told him."
        “Still, you have to admit it puts us at a bad position."
        “I know that he can keep a secret Rei-chan."
        “And we know that he can be brain-washed at anytime."
        “That’s enough!" Luna cut in, “Rei-chan, you were the one who said that he was no longer affected by the Kuriverse and you even encouraged him to give his friendship with her one more chance, you obviously don’t have a problem with his identity."
        “But not to the point of compromising our secret identities."
        “I didn’t do anything wrong, there is no point trying to blame me for it.  Rei-chan, you have to remember that I am not the only one who has let slip our identities to others beyond the group of senshi, not to mention that I didn’t exactly divulge the information either.  And as for being brain-washed, he was as susceptible as the next person, true, we don’t want everyone to know, but now that he does, we will have to make the best of it."
        “Still, for you to confirm to him what he thought, you should have just kept him guessing, at least it doesn’t say anything about the truthfulness of it, you’ve just jeopardized our safety, our family’s safety by letting him know.  From the very beginning we made a pact to keep this a secret; that no one should know to minimize burdens on our work.  You have just undermined the whole point of our secrecy."
        “This argument isn’t getting us anywhere, I have always been taught that one should be answerable to one’s own actions, and I feel that I can truly answer to myself for what I have done today.  You’re right; I can’t guarantee that he won’t be captured by them again, but I can’t guarantee that you won’t be captured again either, nor can we guarantee that Mamoru-san will not be taken as he was before.  We are all susceptible to Kuriverse powers, we might all be captured and brainwashed.  Just because he was before, doesn’t mark him as a potential candidate, just as it doesn’t mean that we don’t trust Mamoru-san despite his previous link with Queen Beryl.  Yes, there are risks in having let him know, but keeping him guessing might only make him more suspicious and might endanger more lives if he was determined to uncover our secrets, the simple truth was, at that one moment in time he was so sure that he didn’t really need any confirmation of it.  He knew; it wasn’t a random guess that he got right.  That is what I believe happened, I have no regrets about letting him know."
        Usagi sat straight, for a brief moment her light watery ponds of blue eyes seemed to solidify, and her blonde hair shimmered as though deciding whether to remain blonde or silver.  “Let it rest Mars-chan, your concern is well-founded, but Mercury-chan’s position is also valid.  There is no reason to argue over a moot point, even should Mercury-chan’s point of view have not been so correct, it is the past and we cannot correct it.  We will not let such a minute detail mar our trust and friendship with each other.  That is the end of the matter and we will not discuss it any further in the future."
        Minako, who had been busily drinking her tea dropped her glass onto the table and stared her their friend, their friend whose body had suddenly been taken over by the future Princess Serenity of Crystal Tokyo.  Spluttering, she coughed and choked, “Usagi-chan!"
        The moment had been disturbed and shattered, Usagi once again reverted to her usual self, “huh minna (everyone)?  What happened just then?"
        Makoto smiled warmly at her and reached over to cover her shaking hands with her own, “nothing Usagi-chan, we just got a little glimpse into the future, that’s all."

6:00pm
        “Son, quit moping and get down here to help me with the packing."
        “Hai."
        “You’ve been saying that for the past day.  If I came up to your room I bet I’ll find that you haven’t even started doing any of your packing.  We are leaving tomorrow morning, how many times do I have to tell you that?"
        “Hai."
        “Son, did you hear what I just said?"
        “Hai."
        “Urawa, what is wrong with you?"
        “Hai."
        Sighing, Ryo-san realized that his son had not listened to a word that he had said, abandoning his packing; he climbed up the flight of stairs into his son’s room.  He did not bother to knock, knowing quite well that it would most probably not register in his mind at all.  Ryo-san found his son lying flat on his stomach, his chin rested on the back of his hands that lay flat on the ground.  His eyes stared into space, he did not realize that his father was standing next to him.
        “Urawa, gobbledygook mieow mieow woof?" (I’m sorry dear readers, I just had to poke some fun into my characters ^v^ !)
        “Hai."
        Shaking his head he leaned down to touch his son’s shoulder and gently shook him from his trance, “Urawa, where are you?"
        “The Nabeyashi Skating Club rink 2." Urawa answered mechanically.
        “Why?"
        “Because I want to, because I want to know what will happen."

6:50pm
        Slipping into the audience stands of the rink, she sat behind a column and watched his practice, it felt strange to sit there in the cover of the column, it felt as though her appearance was somehow fugitive even if it wasn’t.  There were two reasons why she didn’t want to let him know that she was here:  first, she didn’t want to disturb his practice; secondly, because she wasn’t sure if she wanted to speak to him.  Today’s encounter transformed her perception of him, yet she wanted to be sure before she opened up the door to her life for him.
        As she watched his movements she smiled, he was good, she gave him that, but she didn’t like his style.  His style was less about grace than it was about vanity, it seemed that when he was skating, he was trying to say ‘look at me, I am skating, look at those my moves, they are difficult and well-executed steps." It was entertaining, showy and technically eye pleasing, but too ostentatious for her liking and not at all aesthetically pleasing for her artistic critique.
        She and many others used to be transfixed by Akiyama Asuka-kun’s graceful skating and preferred it over Tsuzuki Asano’s style; it was always full of hope and happiness, every story that he chose to tell always ended in goodness no matter what how the character’s life began.  She couldn’t replicate those feelings because each skater’s aura came from their own experience, their expression and attitude towards life; she did not have the same amount of hopefulness that he had.  Even in the face of all the pain that he had been through, he had always believed that there was light, that there was something in life that he could look forward to.  That was until the end, until the Kuriverse had played a cruel trick on his mind and made him believe that it was destiny; that his destiny was to kill and be killed.
        “I’m glad that you are here."
        Ami looked up with a start, she had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she hadn’t even noticed that he had finished his practice.  Leaping up to her feet, she bowed, “Tsuzuki-san, it was a pleasure to be here, watching your skating."
        “You’re being polite, if it was that good then your mind wouldn’t have strayed off to something else, you would have noticed my stopping, you would have noticed my approaching you,"  closing the distance between them, he stepped close to her, so close that she could feel the uncomfortable heat radiating from him, “have you always been so polite Mizuno-san?"
        She took a step back from him, she almost felt claustrophobic when he was so close to her; the intensity of his questioning made her feel as though she was being interrogated, “I certainly believe that politeness is a very important thing."
        Taking another step towards her, he closed the distance between them once again, “then you are just like the person I remembered from the Silver Millennium then."
        Suddenly frightened, she stepped away from him, his violation of her personal space left her feeling exposed and vulnerable, “I’m sorry Tsuzuki-san, it was a mistake that I came here, I shouldn’t have done that; please excuse me." Turning, she ran towards the other exit but was stopped short when she realized that there was a metal barrier that separated her from the door.
        “Mizuno-san, I apologize for my behavior to you, please, don’t leave now, could we go out for a while, just to get to know each other."
        "Iie (no), I’m afraid that I made a mistake in coming here, I’m not ready to get to know you, it is I who has to apologize for my behavior."
        Stepping away from the aisle, he allowed her to pass, “please Mizuno-san, come and visit me again some time, even if you do not wish to speak to me."
        She nodded but did not say a word as she left.

7:00pm
        “Doctor?"
         Mewagi Mizuno looked up at the familiar voice at the doorway of her office, although there was no one in the doorway, she knew who was there; smiling she said sweetly, “yes my dear Keizo-kun, I will be ready to leave in a moment.
        Popping his head through the doorway he stared at her in alarm as he demanded, “and who might this Keizo-kun be please?"
        “Oh, you’re not him, I am disappointed." Mewagi smiled slyly to indicate to him that she had only been joking as she gave her computer one last, authoritative tap, “but I’m ready to go anyway."
        Kendo Daiki laughed as he offered her his arm once she got up from behind her desk, “you nearly gave me a heart attack just then."
        Taking his arm she returned his laugh, “and I happen to have one of the best cardiologists in the country sitting in the office next to mine, what a coincidence."
        “While I happen to have one of the best pediatricians in the country standing next to me, it is a small world don’t you think?"

7:02pm
        Walking blindly she stumbled as her shoe caught a small rock on the pedestrian way, her mind barely registering which direction she was heading, only knowing that she was moving away from the skating rink.  The irony that the same rink had been her sanctuary only yesterday, and was now the source of chagrin was not lost upon her, it seemed that she would be continually disappointed in her choices of havens and would have to escape the places that she was most familiar with.
        “Ami-san?"
        Her head jerked up at the familiar voice, and forced a smile as she saw her mother and Dr Daiki heading in her direction.  She was standing outside the hospital and to her mother; and she hadn’t even known it.  Her mother approached her with a look of concern on her face, and asked if she was alright, whilst Dr Daiki merely handed her a handkerchief as he stepped away discreetly into the background.
        Taking his handkerchief, she realized that her face was wet and that she had been crying during her walk.  Burying her head in the nape of her mother’s neck, she took comfort and refuge in the closeness of her warmth.  She appreciated the fact that her mother did not press the point in questioning what was causing her tears, and even Ami did step away from her mother, her mother did not ask.
        “I... oka-san (mother), I don’t know what to do."
        “Ami-chan,"  her mother scolded her gently, “we don’t always know what to do, it is a part of life that you have to learn to accept."
        “I’m scared, what if I’m wrong."
        “Unless you know it is wrong, then it should stop you.  Not doing something because of fear of being wrong is worse then being wrong when your heart was at the right place.  At the end of the day, not one can say that you didn’t try."
        “Oka-san... what if?"
        “There are no ‘what ifs' in this world, when there is a split in the road in front of you, you can only turn left or right, you can’t walk in the middle, and there are no maps for this road... if you turn left you can only wonder what right was like, and if you chose right, you might lament what the left would be like.  Either way, you can only choose one side and wonder about the other.  And as you continue to walk you might question if the other side would be an easier road, but at the back of your mind you will also have to remind yourself that that road might have been even rougher."
        “I... and if the left ends in pitfall?"
        “Then you’ll find a good rope to apt sail to the ground below, but the other side might not have left you a rope."
        “Hai (yes) oka-san.  I think I’ll go home now."
        Her mother nodded, “do you need us to send you home?"
        She shook her head firmly, “I know the way home."

Next