Naru entered the conference room in a wheelchair pushed by a sturdy male orderly. She was wearing the pink satin pajamas that Usagi had brought for her from the apartment above the OSA*P jewelry store, where she and Umino had lived with her mother. Umino had given her the pajamas for their first wedding anniversary several months ago. It had been so like him; while most men gave their wives sexy, lacy things for first anniversary gifts, Umino had thought the pajamas were pretty, dowdy as their styling was and even though the pink clashed with her hair. She felt foolish and sad wearing them, but it was better than a hospital gown.

The room, on a back hallway on the first floor of the hospital, was nicely panelled and carpeted, and had cushioned chairs around a long, polished wood table. It was obvious that important decisions were made in this room. Today, the important decision would be what was going to happen to her now that she was almost ready to be released from the hospital.

A handful of men and women in suits with attache cases, laptop computers, and file folders were already seated along one side of the table. A couple of white-coated doctors, also carrying file folders, joined them. Usagi and Mamoru were already there too, sitting on the side of the table across from the doctors and people in suits. The orderly pushed Naru's wheelchair up to the table next to Usagi. She shifted in the chair, sucking in a hard breath at the pain that any kind of pressure on her back and pelvis caused. Dr. Fujisawa, who had overseen Naru's care in the Intensive Care Unit, came in and sat on Naru's other side. A few more doctors and officials came in, and then the hearing started.

The woman who was the assistant superintendent of the mental hospital associated with Juuban Medical Center spoke. "Our concern today is Umino Naru, twenty-three years old, a widow, resident of Tokyo, who was injured in an automobile accident six weeks ago. According to Dr. Fujisawa, the physician who supervised her care at Juuban Medical Center, she has recovered enough from her injuries that continued hospitalization will soon no longer be necessary. However, there are questions about whether Unimo-san is capable of living on her own, given the long-term effects of her injuries, the lack of family members who could see to her care, and, of greatest concern, certain psychiatric symptoms she has displayed in the weeks since the accident."

The superintendent of the mental hospital nodded. "I am ready to hear the reports of the doctors and case workers," he said.

First, Dr. Fujisawa gave his report. Naru had sustained severe internal injuries in the accident, resulting in heavy blood loss and also the loss of her six-month fetus. In addition, she had sustained numerous broken bones, including a cracked pelvis and several cracked vertabrae in her back, which left her in a considerable amount of pain and unable to walk on her own for now. She would be unable to perform the normal daily tasks of caring for herself, and would be unable to help herself in the event of an emergency. She was also going to require a substantial amount of pain medications, and other medications, for some time to come.

The social worker, a woman in a stylish dark green suit, told the panel that Naru's husband and mother had both been killed in the accident, she had no other family, and, based on extensive interviews, no friends who had the time and resources to look after her or whom she felt she could ask to take on the responsibility.

"What about the friend who is here today?" the superintendent asked. He looked down at a notepad. "Chiba Usagi-san and her husband?"

"I can't," Naru mumbled down at the table. "I just...I can't ask her to do that. It wouldn't be possible." Not when Usagi--Sailor Moon--was in the middle of another difficult fight. It was late May, and snow still fell nearly every day. In fact, it seemed to be getting colder. Naru knew, with a recognition born of long, hard experience, that the worsening weather wasn't natural and that Sailor Moon and the Senshi were making no headway against whatever was causing it.

"Chiba-san?" The superintendent looked at Usagi.

"I--I wish I could. But like Naru-san said, it just isn't possible right now."

"I see." The superintendent made a few notes on his notepad.

The assistant superintendent spoke again. "It's clear that Umino Naru is not capable of living on her own, and she doesn't know anyone who could take care of her. Professional care would be required, were she to be released from the hospital. However, this is not the only concern, or even the main concern. Dr. Tajima."

The black-suited psychiatrist opened his files. "During the police investigation of the accident, Umino-san began insisting that the accident was caused when the taxi driver turned into a monster and disappeared after causing the vehicle to go out of control in an unnatural fashion. Umino-san claimed that the monster indicated that the attack was directed specifically at her. She has clung to this story, despite being told that the taxi driver's body was found in the wreckage and that the roads were unusually icy that night, making an accident all too possible."

"But--!" Naru started to protest. Dr. Fujisawa touched her hand to remind her to wait her turn to speak.

Dr. Tajima went on. "Umino-san has also begun showing evidence of other hallucinations and paranoid delusions, insisting that this 'attack' bore similarities to other attacks she has witnessed or been the victim of, that anyone can actually be one of these 'monsters' in disguise, and that she is being specifically targeted because she has some sort of connection to Sailor Moon."

"But I--" Naru started to say again.

"Be patient, Umino-san. You will get your turn to speak," Dr. Fujisawa said quietly.

"No amount of counseling or reasoning," the psychiatrist continued, "has caused Umino-san to waver from her conviction that these things actually happened and that monsters and demons walk in disguise among us. I believe that, in addition to being physically incapable of taking care of herself, Umino-san is also mentally unfit to deal with the normal stresses of everyday life at this time. It is my professional opinion that it would be criminally irresponsible of us to release her from hospital care until she shows improvement in her mental condition."

"Thank you for your reports," the superintendent said. "I do have the written copies, correct?" Dr. Fujisawa, Dr. Tajima, and the social worker all nodded. "Very well, we will now consider the matter, if the patient can be escorted from the room for a short time."

"Don't I get to say anything?" Naru asked.

"I'm afraid this isn't--" the assistant superintendent started to say, but the superintendent cut her off. "Certainly, Umino-san. What would you like to say?" He sounded like a parent humoring a persistent child.

"If the taxi driver was just a normal taxi driver, then tell me why he was taking us on that road when we wanted to go home to the Juuban district," Naru demanded.

"The coastal road is a popular drive to take late at night after a show or other entertainment," the assistant superintendent said. "Obviously, your party decided to go on that drive first and then go home. Due to the trauma of the accident, you have forgotten that."

"It was damned freezing that night! And I'm--I was six months pregnant and just wanted to go home and go to bed!" Another touch of the physician's hand on hers made her realize that she was shouting. Naru closed her mouth and looked down, feeling a blush heat her face. She had to stay calm. "And the fact that the driver's body was found--that doesn't mean anything. The monsters, they can possess a body and then leave it. They don't just disguise themselves as other people, they can actually take over the person. And you never know until it's too late."

Several moments of silence passed. Finally the superintendent cleared his throat. "Thank you, Umino-san. We will take what you said into consideration as we make our decision."

The orderly stepped forward and pushed Naru in her wheelchair out to the hallway, and closed the door of the conference room behind them. Naru wondered how long they were going to have to wait in the cold, linoleum-lined hallway, but it was only a couple of minutes later that the assistant superintendent opened the door. "You can bring Umino-san back in now."

When everyone was settled again, the superintendent straightened the papers that lay on the table in front of him and cleared his throat. "After hearing all of the evidence and discussing the case, it is the conclusion of this committee that the patient, Umino Naru, should be released from Juuban Medical Center into the custody of the Juuban Institute for Mental Health, until such time as a re-evaluation of her case shows that she is mentally competent to live on her own."

Usagi gasped. It took a moment for the words to make sense to Naru, then she realized that she had just been committed to a mental institution. "But--"

"I'm sorry, Naru-san," Dr. Fujisawa said. "I know how you feel about this. But it's for the best, right now."

"Dr. Fujisawa," the superintendent said, "I will discuss the details of Umino-san's transfer to our facility with you tomorrow."

"Of course," the physician said.

Everyone gathered up their papers and folders and pens and pencils and laptop computers to get ready to leave. "But I'm not crazy!" Naru shouted. They all stopped what they were doing and stared at her. The assistant superintendent and the psychiatrist exchanged significant glances. "I'm not crazy! It's true! They're everywhere! They could be anyone--you, or you, or you--" She pointed at the superintendent, the psychiatrist, and the social worker. "Or even you!" she shouted, pointing at Dr. Fujisawa. "Their traps could be anywhere! You could walk into the grocery store and the next thing you know they're stealing your energy! Usagi knows it's true. Tell them, Usagi!"

Usagi's hands were folded in her lap. Her head was bowed, her eyes closed. A single tear ran down her cheek. "I'm sorry, Naru-chan. I don't know."

"Usagi-chan!" Naru tried to grab her friend's shoulder, but the orderly turned the wheelchair with a quick, smooth motion and wheeled her out of the room.

But of course Usagi couldn't tell them, Naru realized as the orderly pushed her back to her room. If she said she believed in the monsters, they would question her, and her identity as Sailor Moon would be revealed, in the middle of what must be a dangerous and difficult fight. And what if one of the people in the conference room had been a monster, sent to make sure Naru was put away where she couldn't cause any more trouble? It seemed that if being Sailor Moon meant staying silent while your childhood best friend was committed to the mental hospital, then that was what Usagi had to do. It was for the best, there was no other choice.

The orderly helped Naru back into bed, where she cried herself to sleep.

* * * * * * * *

Back at their apartment, Usagi held on to Mamoru, soaking the front of his shirt with her tears. "I let her down, I couldn't say anything to help her. She's my oldest friend, and I couldn't help her. I wish I didn't have to be Sailor Moon any more!"

"Usako," Mamoru said, stroking her hair. "I know you couldn't say anything. I know you sensed it--I did too. There was something wrong in that room. Something cold. I'm sure the Children of Zero had a presence there."

"I wish the other Senshi were here," Usagi wept.

The rest of the Senshi had been sent to other parts of the world in an effort to find someone who could help them stop the spread of the unnatural cold that was covering the Earth. This time, their enemies weren't concentrating their efforts just on the Tokyo area; their tactics were global. So far, the Senshi had had no success in stopping the enemy or in finding help, and Usagi was beginning to realize that this might be the battle they couldn't win, and that the crisis which would plunge the earth into a thousand years' sleep was at hand. Even knowing that such a crisis was inevitable, and that it would lead to the future that they had seen, she couldn't give up. She wouldn't give up fighting until there was nothing else to do, even though there were times, like now, when she wanted nothing more than to turn her back on it all and just be a normal person.

"It's been a hard fight, Usako. You're doing your best. You did what you had to do," Mamoru said.

"I know." Usagi wiped her eyes and nose on the back of her hand. "Naru-chan isn't supposed to remember all of that. Why does she remember? No one else does, or they'd believe her."

"Maybe it's because she was targeted so many times. It's made too deep an impression to be erased. I don't know."

"Poor Naru-chan. I wonder if she even remembers Nephrite. When I'm the queen of Crystal Tokyo, I'll make it up to her. She can live with us in the Crystal Palace, and she'll have everything she wants." Images came into Usagi's memory: a handsome man with deep blue eyes and long, wavy auburn hair; a young man with a round, pleasant face, unruly black hair, and unexpectedly handsome eyes; a beautiful, sophisticated woman with Naru's eyes and wavy red hair. A doll-sized footprint in black ink on a white card. She couldn't give Naru everything she wanted, but, she vowed, she would do the best she could for her friend.