Makoto shook her head as she caught sight of her reflection in the Italian restaurant’s window. What had she been thinking? The midnight blue dress was far too showy for a first date, but this, of course, was not a date. It was just a meal between friends and colleagues. It didn’t need to be a romantic thing. Ren would have to accept that. But could she?

Ren Mori was charming, funny, handsome, sensitive, and taller than her in heels, which was a big plus, but as they were shown to their candlelit table, Makoto couldn’t help feeling conflicted. How long had it been since she had last dated anyway? Many men had asked her out over the years, but she had always politely declined, telling herself that she was too busy for such trivial matters as romance. In truth, though, the idea of dating felt somehow futile.

Usagi and Mamoru had shared a love that transcended lifetimes; a connection so powerful, it was supposed to have been the key to Earth’s bright future. With Usagi’s death, they—and the world—had been denied that destined, epic love. No relationship Makoto pursued could ever compare, so she wasn’t sure it was worthwhile or even fair for her to try.

Still, as she sat down across the table from Ren, her eyes lingering on his chiseled jaw and full lips, she wondered whether it was finally time to allow herself to explore this part of her life. Usagi certainly would have wanted her to. For a moment, Makoto imagined her life as it could have been. She pictured herself meeting Usagi, Minako, Ami, and Rei for lunch, and their excited faces as she recounted details of the date with Ren.

“What are you thinking about?” asked Ren, his eyebrow raised with intrigue.

“Huh?” Makoto responded.

“It looked like you were lost in thought,” said Ren.

“Oh? I guess I was thinking about… Something silly, I can’t remember what. Anyway, what’s good here?”

“They have the best pasta in all of Tokyo! I’m obsessed with their Spaghetti Bolognese. It might sound like a boring choice, but trust me, you’ve never had Bolognese the way they make it here! If you want, we can get a couple of different dishes and share?”

Seeing Ren’s excitement, Makoto felt like she needed to make her position clear. “Listen, Ren, about this da—dinner—it’s just a meal between friends, right?”

“Of course,” Ren replied immediately, seemingly unaffected. “If that’s really what you want. Is it, though?”

Taken aback by the question, Makoto admitted with a sigh, “I… I don’t know.”

The waiter arrived at that moment with menus and took their drink orders. Ren ordered a pricey bottle of wine for them to share. Following this, the pair sat in silence for a few minutes while looking over the appetizers. Finally, Makoto said, “Listen, Ren. I’m not good at this. There must be other girls you’re interested in? Prettier girls. Girls who know what they want.”

“Nope,” he answered without hesitation. “Only you.”

Makoto felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment and hid behind her menu. “Why?” she mumbled.

“Oh, lots of reasons. I could reference your beauty, your intelligence, your wit, the way you laugh, the way you move, or the way you are with the kids at school and how you selflessly protected them from that monster,” Ren explained coolly, “but the truth is a little harder to explain.”

“The truth?” Makoto whispered, placing her menu down on the table, entranced by the man’s words.

“There’s a look.”

“A look?”

“A look that comes over you, something you probably aren’t aware of. I caught a glimpse of it a minute ago. It’s a momentary look of sadness that appears on your face. A haunting expression that becomes visible, even behind the smile you wear like a mask.”

Makoto’s eyes watered, and her mouth moved soundlessly while struggling to find the words. “Y-you see that?” she eventually said.

Ren shrugged as if to lessen the impact of his keen observation. “It doesn’t happen often. Only someone paying close attention—someone like me—would ever notice it. But when it does, I have this urge to know more about you, to protect you, or dare I say it, to heal you and make sure you never have to look that way again.”

Makoto was stunned. How did he know? She had always been so careful to disguise her true feelings behind a happy face, not wanting to infect those around her with negativity, or worse, evoke their pity.

Ren reached out and took her hand in his. “I don’t know what’s happened in your past, Makoto, and I’m not asking,” he said softly. “You don’t have to tell me. I just want you to know that you can if you want to. I see you, Makoto. The real you. If you give me a chance, I’d like to show you who I am.”

“I—” Makoto started. She wanted to say something. What, she wasn’t sure, but Ren’s bold confession surely deserved a response. Before she had a chance to, however, a distracting noise sounded somewhere in the distance. It wasn’t especially loud but seemed to reverberate through the walls. This was followed by several figures running by the restaurant window and others pointing in the direction they had come from.

“—need to powder my nose,” she finished, and excused herself to the bathroom, leaving Ren looking deflated, perhaps even hurt.

Within the safe confines of the bathroom, Makoto gripped the porcelain of the nearest sink and released the breath she had been holding in. Of all the ways she had expected the evening with Ren to go, she had not been expecting this. Ren’s feelings for her were much more sincere than she had imagined. She feared the reverse may also be true. Attempting to regain her composure, Makoto ran her hands under some cold water and dabbed her burning cheeks and the back of her neck.

When a second noise sounded and gave her the impression that the room had rumbled, she remembered herself and fished out her wrist communicator from her purse, pressing the small blue button and flipping the watch face open.

“What is it, Makoto?” said Ami, her face appearing on the small screen. She looked distracted. Makoto presumed she was driving.

“I’ve heard some strange noises, maybe explosions, somewhere near my location. Is something going on?” Makoto asked.

“Nothing you should concern yourself with,” Ami replied brusquely.

“Are you sure? I saw people behaving oddly. Maybe I can help?”

“Minako and I are on top of it,” said Ami in an unconvincing manner.

“So, something is going on? Something big? An attack?”

“I can’t talk now, Mako. We’ll fill you in later.” Ami’s face disappeared abruptly.

Makoto felt uneasy. She wondered if she was overthinking things, but just then, another bang sounded, this one louder than before and preceding an unmistakable tremor. Makoto gritted her teeth, her eyes darting between the bathroom door, where Ren waited beyond, and the open bathroom window.

“I can’t talk now, Mako. We’ll fill you in later,” said Ami, flipping her wrist communicator shut to end the video call. The situation was bad enough right now. There was no need to make Makoto feel guilty about not being able to help.

Ami signaled and made a sharp left turn, her blue sports car rounding the corner with a skid of its tires. Still driving well over the speed limit, she raced down the next street and braked suddenly outside of an apartment building. “Got your communicator?” she called out as she leaned over and pushed open the passenger-side door.

“Got it!” Minako confirmed, her trench coat tied to conceal the Sailor V disguise below.

“Good, get in and buckle up!” Ami instructed, accelerating before the other girl had closed the door all the way, and zooming off to the source of the disturbance.

“You sure there are six of them?” Minako asked.

“Positive,” said Ami, handing her portable computer to Minako while she focused on driving.

Minako consulted the small device. “Yep. There they are. And they picked the biggest mall in town. That one has a movie theater and all those bars and restaurants, so it's open late. It’s bound to be packed.”

“I’m sure that’s why they picked it. They must be making a big play for energy.”

“Or maybe they just want to draw me out?” Minako suggested.

“Either way, six enemies will be too much for the police to handle. I don’t see that we have a choice but to intervene.”

“Isn't six too much for us as well? I’ll almost definitely have to use my full powers, and even then, we may have a problem.”

“Not if we’re smart about it. They still don’t know about me—”

“You don’t know that for sure,” Minako interjected.

“Well, we’ll have to hope they don’t. To cover the area of the mall and trap as many victims as they can, the enemies have spread out. When we arrive, I’ll hack into the electrical grid and mall security, and support you to take out the ones furthest from their allies. I’ll focus on getting people out but if things get messy, I’ll join the fray.”

“I’m not feeling good about this one, Ami.”

Ami didn’t reply. She was just as apprehensive about their chances. Six against two were not good odds, and there was no telling what sort of abilities their opponents would have. Changing the subject somewhat, she said, “Makoto called just before you got in.”

“She did?” Minako replied, perturbed by the prospect of the girl’s involvement. “You didn’t tell her, did you? She’s improving, Ami, but she’s not ready!”

“I didn’t tell her anything. From what I gathered, she’s somewhere in the vicinity of the mall and the enemy is making a fuss, probably to get our attention.”

“That lizard guy did the same thing.”

“The police have been passing off that whole incident as a bombing. What do you think they will make of tonight’s excitement?”

Minako didn’t reply. Internally, she was more concerned with whether they would even live to see the answer to that question, and she strongly suspected Ami was thinking the same.

A rattling gasp disturbed the silence of the Blood Moon Alliance's medical laboratory. The Argentian healers rushed to their patient’s side, holding his shoulders down to prevent him from rising and insisting that he calm himself.

“No! I must speak with the king! Now!" demanded Alexandri, awake at last.