Hime

They were in action, leaving the apartment immediately. They ran, transformed, with their breaths in sync, and their footsteps echoing each other. Sailor Earth was vaguely aware of the other senshi joining them, falling into the group like dropping shadows onto the concrete beneath their feet.

As they had left Mamoru's (now Tuxedo Kamen) apartment, Usagi had pulled up the girl's on a compact communicator, gathering and spreading information about the attack in the downtown Juuban district. Some person was attacking couples that were making their ways home from work, or heading out to dinner on a date. The couples were losing consciousness as a red ribbon appeared tying the wrist of one person to another was severed between them.

"What are they after, do you know?" Mars had asked the collective group. No one knew.

"Do we know what we're looking for?" Venus asked, not sounding the least out of breath.

The group was silent as they ran.

They could hear screams coming from people fleeing the scene, trying to put as much distance between them and the assailant as possible.

As the senshi arrived, they spread out to surround the offender, cutting him off from attacking any more couples. Tuxedo Kamen made his way around to the four different pairs of people, checking their vitals to see if they had only lost consciousness, or the situation was far more grave than that.

"That's enough!" Sailor Moon shouted.

The seemingly normal looking man (except for his black armored garb, and his unsettling black eyes, like a demon) laughed. "I only take my orders from a higher power, and you don't seem to possess enough to sway my allegiance!"

"Then you're highly underestimating us," Venus said, holding a heart-linked chain taut between her hands. Sparks crackled between Jupiter's hands, flames engulfed Mars', and there was a chill from Mercury's direction.

Sailor Moon held an ornate staff in one hand, staring down the man. "I will not allow you to continue to maim the love that transpires between people. I am the pretty solider senshi, Sailor Moon! And in the name of the moon, I will punish you!"

Earth felt like she'd heard that mantra over and over before, though she had never known Sailor Moon personally before (though she had known of her). But she felt like this familiarity she was experiencing was coming through her bond with her brother, Tuxedo Kamen, who was standing on the outskirts, in case he needed to further protect the fallen. One look at him, and she knew that everyone was still alive. But it didn't make the situation any less dangerous, or seriousness.

Sailor Moon began to call out her attack, "Starlight Honeymoon Therapy-"

The guy scoffed. "Don't bother, princess," he said, using the term in the loose pet-name sense, not her identity as Princess Serenity. Suddenly his body blurred right in front of them, and he vanished.

All the girls stared at where he had been only moments before, unsure about what had just happened.

"Where did he go?" Jupiter asked Mercury.

"Just a sec..." Mercury twisted her left earring, and a visor manifested in front of her eyes. She began furiously typing on a small compact computer. "He's... he's gone. There's no heat signature where he was before. And his energy has completely disappeared from the surrounding area. He's not here anymore."

"What a weirdo," Sailor Moon started. The senshi all stopped, as one of the couples began to stir. Sailor Moon gasped. "Naru? Umino?" She must have known them. When their eyes opened, that same hate-filled, completely black gaze fell upon each other. They began to shout, coming for each other, as Tuxedo Kamen stepped in between the two, before they could physically assault each other. The words they were saying, the seething in their voices, it wasn't indicative of a couple in love. They wanted to rip each other to shreds, if not with their bare hands, then with their weirds. Even Earth winced at the words they were spitting at each other.

"Stop it!" Moon cried out, running over to them. "You two love each other, you always have!" Earth could hear the quivering in her voice, how on the verge of tears she was with each insult they snarled, and name they hurled at one another. "Stop! Please!" she cried. But she wasn't able to focus on her friends, as the three other pairs began to wake up, in the same state, going for their lovers' throats. Venus, Mars, and Jupiter stepped between each pair, to keep them from physically assaulting one another.

"What the hell is going on?" Earth asked, more to herself than the others. "What did that guy do?" She watched, and listened as the couples said the most vile things between the two of them. Soon, police units, and paramedics, arrived on the scene. Not used to being in the public eye, Sailor Earth quickly disappeared from the scene, like a spooked cat. She waited in the shadows until the other senshi were able to safely disperse, the police intervening between the shouting couples, putting them all in separate cars.

She waited until they shed their transformations, and walked in an inconspicuous group, away from ground zero. Once she was in her civilian clothes, she joined the group. They walked in silence, until they reached a shrine. It was the Hikawa shrine, and apparently, it was Rei's. They all sat around on the walkway, in the moonlight.

"Is that anyone you've ever fought before?" Kat asked. She knew that the senshi had been in action far longer than she had, and had seen many more enemies. Maybe this was a straggler, coming back for revenge?

"I've never seen anything like it, before," Minako murmured, staring at the ground, deep in thought.

"His energy signature was completely different," Ami added, frowning.

"What he did to Naru and Umino..." Usagi trailed off. Her eyes were swimming with tears. Mamoru put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close, kissing the top of her head.

"Those were your friends?" Kat asked. Usagi nodded, silently. "I'm sorry," Kat said, quietly. "From what I heard from some bystanders that knew the other couples, they were all deeply in love. They were soulmates, it seemed."

"Something about that red ribbon being cut..." Rei trailed off, deep in thought.

"There's a folktale that's told about a red ribbon, or a string, that connects soulmates, and guides them to one another throughout all of their lives," Makoto spoke up, with her brows furrowed.

"But what's the point in going around, severing it? What does anyone gain from that?" Minako wondered aloud.

"It just causes pain and chaos," Mamoru murmured, rubbing Usagi's shoulders. She looked distraught. Kat felt the compelling need to comfort her as well, but she didn't want to overstep her boundaries. Really, she'd only met her earlier that day. Even if it did feel like a lifetime.

"Maybe that is the goal? To just hurt people?" Kat wondered.

"But... that doesn't make any sense," Minako said.

"When has anything the bad guy has ever done made any sense?" Rei snorted.

"But they usually gain something from it," Usagi said quietly, into Mamoru's chest.

"I think we need to keep an eye on these couples over the next few days, and see what develops," Luna said, sagely. The group nodded in agreement.

"I have to head back to Hakone," Kat said, regretfully. "But I have a lead on a possible apartment, and a job, that I'm going to follow up on in a couple of days. I'll try to come back here as soon as possible."

"You're not going back tonight, are you?" Usagi asked, sounding worried. Kat nodded.

"It's a little late," Mamoru said. "Why don't you stay with me for the night, and then you can go back tomorrow?" he offered.

Kat's eyes widened slightly. "Oh no, I couldn't do that. I really don't want to impose on any of you."

"You're not imposing at all." He smiled at her. She felt so warm, and accepted. So she agreed. They dropped Usagi off at her house before walking back to Mamoru's apartment. "You sleep in the bed, and I'll take the couch tonight," he said, as he began to make up the couch.

"No! No, Mamoru, you stay in your bed. Please don't go out of your way just for me."

He chuckled. "Why not? You're my sister. Please." He gestured to the bed, again. She hesitated, until Mamoru gave her a look that said 'I won't take no for an answer, now get in there'.

She smiled and turned toward the bed, before pausing and turning back to Mamoru. "Can I... Can I hug you?" she asked, hesitantly. Without saying a word, he walked over to her, and wrapped his arms around her. "You never have to ask, Katrina. You're family. And if you need to stay anywhere while you're looking for your own place, you are more than welcome to stay with me, until you do. If that helps."

He smelled crisp and clean and warm. Not unlike how he used to smell. She closed her eyes, and for a moment, she was transported back to their past lives. Back to a flourishing, beautiful earth, with a luminous moon above, that seemed to shine just for them. Endymion smelled of the ocean, and the sky, and the earth. He smelled like home. But he also smelled like roses and lavender, a smell that was unique to him after he came back from visiting his princess on the moon. A smell that she now associated with Usagi.

That night, Kat saw the man with the soulless, black eyes in her dreams. He was smirking triumphantly. Her throat constricted when she saw two bodies behind him - Usagi and Mamoru. Except they were as Serenity and Endymion. Their were blank, lifeless, loveless. Katrina began to run toward them, as Sailor Earth. But no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't get close to them. They began to fight, not with words, but with their powers. They attacked each other relentlessly, blast after blast after blast. Katrina watched in horror as they slowly killed each other. Around them, the earth began to crumble, and the moon was black in the sky. Terror pooled in Earth's gut.

A deep, chilling laugh froze her. She couldn't see where it was coming from, but it wasn't from the man from before. It was off in the distance, somewhere above them. She looked wildly around, through the thick miasma of despair around her. But everywhere she looked, she only saw a shredded red ribbon, she saw Endymion and Serenity fighting. She saw the lights going out in the planets above. But she couldn't see who was orchestrating the entire catastrophe. She called out to her brother and Serenity, but they couldn't hear her. They were killing each other. Their powers were dying along with them. They fell, like limp rag dolls, with no life left in them.

Kat cried out, and jolted awake. She didn't recognize her surroundings, and her heart was throbbing rapidly in her chest. She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself as she looked around. She finally spotted Endymion - Mamoru - sleeping on the couch. He looked peaceful, unlike his warring image that was stuck in her head. He must have sensed she had woken, or maybe he hadn't even been asleep at all, but he sat up, and ran his long fingers through his hair, ruffling it. He turned in the couch, and caught her eye. After seeing the wild panic in her dark eyes, he strode across the room, and took a seat at the foot of the bed. He rested a hand on her knee.

"I think I know what they're here for..." she whispered, hesitantly. "They're here for you and Serenity. I don't know why... or how... but they're here for you."