Sakura Yugure teleported to a secluded spot on the side of Mount Fuji, then sat down and stretched, trying to work the aches and kinks out of her body... and some of the more distressing moments of the month since her return from Makai out of her mind.

{Ouch,} she thought. {Shin Akuma was vicious in that 'final exam' he gave me. If I couldn't heal, I might've been crippled!} She rotated one shoulder, then popped her back. {And some of the things he insisted I learn... damn. *Why* is death such a necessity to him?} she thought, then put that memory firmly aside. {Still, I think I finally have the technical perfection in Shin Shotokan he demanded. Plus there were a few side benefits,} she mused, allowing the grey fires of the Satsu no Hadou to emerge from her fist... then spread up her arm to engulf her body, then condense back down to the other hand and vanish. {I can command the Satsu fires better now, without needing rage or adrenaline to evoke them.}

She sighed deeply. {Well, now my prior obligations are aquitted... it's time to turn traitor to Oneesan,} she thought, making a regretful noise in her throat. {But I can't ignore what I found out about my friends before the wedding. As long as I thought they were happy, like me, I could leave it alone... but not now.} She shuddered, remembering the awful torment the imprisoned souls of the vampirismed Sailor Senshi and Devil Hunters had been feeling at their condition. {Not now. And that means I have to find a way to free them.}

The young girl sat and pondered her course of action. {I don't know enough about this kind of thing,} she finally had to admit. {And that means I need expert advice.}

With a sigh, she began to evaluate her options. {I can only think of a few people to try and ask about this. There's Rose-sensei, but she hardly knew about Darkstalkers at all... unless she knew more than she was admitting. Still, she's my last resort, I think.} Sakura paused. {Then there's Yohko's grandmother... I don't like that idea because I'll have to tell her what happened to her granddaughter. Still, even Usagi said in that dream that Grandma Mano knows more about this sort of thing than anyone else. I'm worried, though... even *Demitri* didn't know of a way to undo their transformations.} She paused again, then inhaled as a thought occurred to her. {Sailor Pluto! Not only does she know a lot, but she guards the Gate of Time... and maybe I can go back in time and change all this!} she thought, excited. Standing up, she prepared to Ashura Warp... then paused. {Um, no... teleporting to them when I must *reek* of dark energy would be a *bad* idea. The Outer Senshi are a bit... well, less forgiving... than the Inners that I know. I'll go on foot.}

And with that, she stood up and walked down the path.

A few hours later, Sakura arrived at a house on the outskirts of Tokyo. {Now I remember why I hate the Tokyo transit system,} Sakura thought as she steamed over the time wasted here. {Calm down, girl... the Inner Senshi have survived months in their condition. A few more hours isn't worth your temper.}

Swallowing hard, she stepped up to the door of the house. {I know Haruka and Michiru - Uranus and Neptune - live here,} Sakura thought. {I just hope they can help me find-}

A gloved hand landed on her shoulder. "Now you and I must talk," a quiet voice said, and the world around Sakura faded into a grey mist.

The young girl had time to 'eep!' as she was turned around to see the dark-skinned defender of the Gate of Time, whose vicinity they were currently occupying.

"Uranus and Neptune would have reacted badly," Sailor Pluto, the one who had brought Sakura here, said. "Here we can talk without their... overreactions. This is about the current predicament of the Inner Senshi?" Pluto stated as much as asked.

Sakura nodded. "Yes. Pluto-san, I have to ask this. Even Demitri says he knows of no way to restore those who have been Changed into vampires without killing them. Can I... may I use the Gate of Time? Could you send me back, so I could stop the Senshi - and Yohko and Asuza, too - from fighting Demitri? *Please??*" she begged, actually falling to her knees.

Pluto sighed and turned away. "As tempting as it is to interfere in the flow of Time, I am forbidden to, no matter how dire the circumstance, unless another force has changed that which will be."

Sakura blinked. "But - but that Crystal Tokyo the others talked about!! How can they found it now?? Hasn't this *already* changed things??" the bewildered girl asked.

Sailor Pluto gestured with her Time Key Staff, pointing at the Gate. It opened to show glittering spires of crystal. "Crystal Tokyo has not been disturbed. Therefore, somehow this difficulty is circumvented without interfering in the timeline." The timeless woman sighed. "And even if it were permissible to send someone, it could neither be you nor I."

Sakura floundered, going from bewildered to total confusion. "Wha?? B-but why?? Aren't we the only ones who *could??*"

Sailor Pluto shook her head. "More the opposite. You and I have already been affected directly by what has happened to the Inner Senshi. Therefore, we cannot prevent it from happening, or we will interfere in the very events which caused our action - paradox of the worst kind. Anyone who dares to act in such a way is most often erased from the timeline."

Sakura remained confused for a moment, then what had been said sunk home. "Yipes!" she said as the most likely outcome of *her* never having existed occurred to her - her original self not tapping into the Satsu no Hadou, and Ryu and the heroes dying at the hands of Apocalypse and Cyber-Akuma. She shuddered. "You're right... we can't, can we?"

Pluto laid a supportive hand on her shoulder. "I spoke to you because there was a chance you might have found some other way to achieve your plan of time travel.. and thereby brought disaster on yourself and others. Now you know: any interference in your own past - or even a past you know of - must at least *seem* to follow what happened exactly... and there is no way to achieve that with the Inners."

Sakura sighed, the breath coming out in a sob. "So much for the easy way out. I won't give up, though... I *won't* leave them to that!!" A fire in her eyes, Sakura looked up to Sailor Pluto. "Will you come help me, please? I want you to compare information with someone. There's at least a *chance* we can help Usagi! Please come with me!!"

Pluto smiled, and suddenly the mists faded away to leave the two of them standing in a Tokyo alley... and Pluto had undone her Sailor Senshi transformation, abandoning her fuku in favour of the business suit of her other identity, Setsuna Mei'oh.

"The Mano family residence, correct?" the Senshi of Time asked, a small smile on her face as Sakura facefaulted.

"You KNEW!"

"Of course I did."

Sakura could only sigh.

The arrival at the Mano house - a two-story affair much better than the salaryman's flat owned by the Kasuganos - was, of course, interesting as well.

"My! If it isn't Sakura Kasugano, and with a refined young lady as well!" Grandma Mano, also the 107th Devil Hunter of her line, chortled as she opened the door. "And unusually sober..." she paused. "*And* with the taint of the Dark clinging to you. I'm sorry, Kasugano-san, but if you're seeking Yohko's help, she's been gone for some time."

Sakura nodded. "Actually, *that's* why I'm here - to talk about Yohko and Asuza's disappearance. And in all honesty, I have to admit... I'm not Sakura Kasugano... well, not exactly.."

Grandma Mano blinked. "Then who or what *are* you?" she asked, going on her guard.

Sakura blinked, and shuffled one foot behind the other nervously. "Well, I took the name 'Sakura Yugure' 'cause I'm Sakura, but I'm not who I was... or *we* were, or... Oh this is so confusing to try and explain!" Sakura exclaimed in frustration.

That explanation took some time, and by the time Sakura's story had led up to the point where she discovered that her friends weren't actually happy about their condition, the trio had moved into the living room and darkness had fallen outside.

"...and so, I think Sailor Moon sent me that dream vision through the empathic part of myself," Sakura finished, taking a gulp of water from a glass the elder Mano had brought. "But I don't know of anything I can *do!!* Mano-sensei, surely you can think of something? *Any*thing, so long as it has at least some chance of saving them??" she begged.

Grandma Mano, who had been looking more and more disturbed through the recital, bit her lip. "I won't lie to you, dear. We Devil Hunters *do* have rituals to cleanse those who have been posessed or transformed, but full vampirism... I'm not hopeful. Especially when the Master vampire who changed them is as strong as this."

Sakura leaned forward. "Then what has the best chance of success?? I mean no matter *how* small it is! Anything is better than... than either leaving them as they are, or... or..." Sakura choked up and couldn't continue.

Grandma Mano sighed. "Our Rite of Cleansing was made for this sort of situation, but there are two problems. The first is, without some sort of advantage, like being in a most holy place, it simply has no chance of driving out the vampire's influence. And bringing the victims to true Sacred Ground on a holy day would be... very difficult."

Sakura sagged in despair, but Setsuna leaned forwards. "What you are saying is that your ritual, in order to be successful, would have to be supported by a large source of power involving healing or purity, correct?"

The old woman nodded.

"Then the first problem is solved," Setsuna nodded. "Sakura, you will have to persuade Sailor Moon to either use the Silver Imperium Crystal in support of the ritual, or allow someone else to do so."

Grandma Mano looked skeptically at Setsuna. "How powerful is this crystal, then?"

Setsuna's expression was mildly amused. "Powerful enough to gather up the souls of a kingdom shattered by war and send *all* of them to be reborn into a new life in a later age."

Sakura's head snapped back up, her despair lifting. "YES! I can't believe I didn't remember the Crystal!! Of course, that's the solution!"

Setsuna's face took on a mildly chiding experssion. "*Part* of the solution, dear. Mano-san *did* say there were two problems."

"Oops," Sakura apologized, looking contrite. "So what's the second problem?"

Grandma Mano sighed. "The second problem is that it takes an uncorrupted soul to perform the ritual... so even if I could train you to do it, Sakura, it would have no affect. By your own admission, you are a creature of Dark power. I would go, but the ritual requires a young, vital spirit behind it... and mine is no longer that. In fact, I can think of only one person who might qualify, and I have no idea where to find..."

Just then, the door to the house slammed open and a young girl stormed in, with brown hair in a twin-ponytail arrangement. She was so similar to Yohko that Sakura did a doubletake before noticing the slight differences... a more angry air, slightly narrower eyes, and she didn't put her hair up into hoops before tying it into the tails as Yohko did. Sakura's eyes widened at the sudden appearance of this near-twin to her Devil Hunter friend.

Oblivious to Sakura's surprise, the newcomer began to rant at Grandma Mano. "All right, you old schemer, where have you hidden Yohko?? I've been to the school, the mall, even the swimming pools where she likes to guy-watch, and I can't find her!! This is just a ruse to keep me from proving I'm the better Devil Hunter, isn't it??"

After she was done recoiling in surprise, Grandma Mano's mouth curled up in a smile. "Why Ayako-chan, we were just talking about you!"

Several hours later, Ayako Mano and Sakura Yugure phased into existence on the edge of Castle Aensland, courtesy of the Ashura Warp.

"I'm still not sure how I got talked into this," the Devil Hunter growled.

"Because you wanted to be able to challenge Yohko again, that's why! Shh!" Sakura retorted. A moment later, she squatted down and directed her thoughts through her Aensland Ring - but to the castle itself, not to anyone inside of it.

~Castle,~ she thought intently. Her study with Morrigan had revealed that the castle was so layered with wards, detection spells, and enchantments that, while not sentient, it was at least, in some way, aware. ~I have returned - but not really as an ally this time. While I mean no harm to anyone within you, I'm not really serving the interests of the family here - so don't ignore me on that basis, OK?~

"What are you doing?" Ayako asked as Sakura got up.

"I, um... kind of explained to the castle why we're here," the fuku'ed fighter replied sheepishly.

"WHAT?"

"Shhh!" Sakura implored, and Ayako quieted down. "Look, the Lady of the castle did me a favour I don't know if I can ever pay back, OK? And normally, thanks to this," she held up her Aensland Ring, "I might have free run of the defenses. I didn't want to betray her trust."

Ayako's face mellowed, though only slightly. "That was still foolish... but heck, *I'm* here because I owe Yohko one," she commented.

Sakura nodded. "Then let's get going."

The two girls slipped into the castle, ducking around corners and dashing through hallways like a pair of furtive shadows. Under Sakura's guidance, the two worked their way upwards, towards the chambers of the royal servants.

After a dash up a set of spiral stairs, Ayako puffed quietly, "Are you.. sure you... know where you're going?"

Sakura was in no better state. "Hey... be glad... there are stairs here at all," she murmured back. "After all, half the inhabitants here can fly."

Ayako nodded. "Then let's-"

Her whisper was cut off by a black-skinned, slim hand reaching around the corner and hauling Ayako back with it.

"Well, what have we here...? A mortal female in the Aensland Castle?" a male voice echoed back around the corner, the tingle it gave Sakura informing her that it was an incubus - and one already using his glamour.

"I- oh- I..." Ayako stammered, but Sakura was already in motion. Leaping into the air, she grabbed at the stonework of the corner and swung around it, her foot at a height of about six feet - just high enough to clear Ayako. The kick slammed the incubus in the head, and as he staggered back, Sakura unloaded a punch combination that was followed up by a knee between the legs.

With a quiet squeal, the incubus fell and clutched himself, and Sakura knocked him out with a swift kick to the head.

As he fell, she swept her arm back, preventing Ayako from falling upon him with a dagger she'd drawn from somewhere.

"Let me *go!* He was going to... he made me feel..." Ayako growled, though still softly enough that only Sakura heard her.

"He was doing what came naturally on his home turf," Sakura retorted. "I'm not going to have you killing your way through the castle. If they come to Earth, *then* they're within your jurisdiction, but right now we're the invaders, so let's not compound our crimes, ne?"

The reminder of their situation calmed the Devil Hunter back down, and after a quick pause to dump the incubus' unconscious body in a closet, they were off again.

Fortunately, the rest of the trip to the Senshi's chamber was without incident. Once they arrived and ascertained that they, Yohko, Asuza, and the Senshi were the only ones there, Sakura led the way into the room. "Psst! Hey guys, it's me!" she called quietly.

As one, seven heads turned red-glowing eyes to the door from where they were sitting on their bunks. "Sakura!" a glad chorus rang out in seven-part harmony.

"Shhhh!" Sakura shot back, holding her fingers in front of her mouth for silence. "'Neesan doesn't know I'm back, I don't think, and I'd like to keep it that way for now, 'kay?"

Seven puzzled looks were her reward. It was Minako - Sailor Venus - who broke the silence. "I get it! You're going to try a prank on her, right?"

"Well, sort of... but I hope she's not going to be *too* mad at me over it..." Sakura hedged, then decided to plunge right in. "I may have found a way to turn you back to normal."

"But we don't want to!" Sailor Moon exclaimed.

"We *love* being like this!" Yohko enthused.

"Right, Yohko-sama!" her apprentice Asuza agreed.

"We're everything we ever were in life and more! Why would we go back?!" Venus chimed in.

"Yeah, nothing could compare to Demitri-sama anyway," Mars added.

"We're stronger, faster, and *way* cooler. Saturn had it right - Goth is in," Jupiter asserted.

"And the libraries here are so wonderful - even if I really must persuade Morrigan-sama to add computer filing for ease of reference," Mercury concluded, leading to her six fellow vampiresses looking at her and sweatdropping.

Sakura shook her head, recognizing the comments from the dream she'd had. "That's your minds talking - but your minds were changed by Demitri when he bit you. It's well-meant, I guess - a mental adjustment to keep from going crazy. But... Mako-chan... Jupiter... Do you remember when I had that bad dream right before the wedding?"

Jupiter nodded. "Yeah. Hey, wait... you mean it was about *us?*"

Sakura nodded back. "Yeah. And it let me see how happy you *really* were about all this. If you stay against it, I'm not going to force you... but think about it... no, don't even think. Feel. What does your heart, your *soul,* tell you about this? In your deepest self, don't you want to go back? Mercury, are the libraries worth losing everything you were working towards? Jupiter, do you want to live by the whim of another, not knowing if you'll have to do something horrible? Mars, don't you miss being a shrine maiden, finding your inner peace by the sacred fire? Yohko, Asuza, Venus... don't you long for the old days where you three fought *against* monsters? The Three Lady Musketeers? And Sailor Moon... Don't tell me you don't miss Tuxedo Mask. *I* know better," Sakura finished, staring straight into the eyes of the blonde meatball- headed Senshi. "I know... I *know* you still love him. Something like that won't give way just for vampirism."

Sakura held her stare, watching as Sailor Moon's red eyes wavered, then began to fill with tears. She teetered on the brink between emotion and control for a long while, everyone in the room watching her and holding their breath.

Finally, a single tear fell from her eye, and she let out two whispered words.

"Mamo... chan."

That did it. Suddenly, each girl was weeping, loudly or silently, lamenting the loss of who they were. Sakura gestured Ayako into the room, and the two comforted the seven for several minutes.

Finally, Sailor Moon got up and wiped her eyes. "Sakura... thank you. What do we have to do?" she asked, suddenly as calm and regal as she had been in Sakura's dream over a month ago.

Sakura gulped back surprise and replied. "Um, you have to channel the Imperium Silver Crystal's power to Ayako while she performs a cleansing ritual."

Sailor Moon shook her head. "I haven't been able to use the Crystal since I was bitten."

Sakura felt despair take a bite out of her heart. "Um, OK, could you let Ayako use it then...?" she asked, turning to the Devil Hunter for agreement... which she didn't get.

"Channel power from a majour artifact like that *and* perform the ritual at the same time? No way," Ayako commented.

"No..." Sakura whispered, the hope she'd felt at the Mano home starting to slip away. "It can't end like this."

As Sakura began to sag forward, Sailor Moon stepped forwards, pulling the Crystal out of her brooch... and touching it to Sakura's drooping hand. Sakura sucked in a shocked breath, recoiling as if she'd been burned... and the Crystal gleamed.

"It's not over, Sakura," Sailor Moon said regally. "*You* can use the crystal."

Sakura blinked away tears, both from grief and pain. "That hurt..." she paused as what had been said registered. "Huh? But that can't be, I'm as dark as you are!"

Ayako and Yohko replied. "Maybe you're dark, Sakura," the vampiress began,

"-but your soul is uncorrupted, and that's what counts," Ayako finished.

Sakura paused, but decided against arguing. "Okay," she replied. "Usagi, give it here," she said, grabbing a sheet off a bed to wrap around her hands, giving her some protection from the burn she'd felt from touching the Crystal.

Moments later, Ayako began to chant, and Sakura focused on Sailor Moon's instructions, opening herself up to the Crystal's power and channeling it through her, letting it emerge in a sparkling beam from her to Ayako.

Almost at once her eyes filled with tears. {Oh god, it burns!!} she thought, biting on her lower lip to keep from crying out. {It's like I'm pouring lava in my veins! Or acid!} She stopped thinking at all for a moment: her mind wavered, her knees trembled, and the sparkling beam from her to Ayako diminished enough that she could see it through her tears. {NO!!} she thought, straightening defiantly. {It's pain! It's just pain! I won't give up!!}

The beam expanded again... and the sensations grew worse, as if she'd dived into a volcano, or been thrust into a forge. Her knees trembled again, and her eyes closed entirely as she fought to keep her focus. {I.. will.. not.. give.. up,} she thought through the pain. {This is the only way! I have to save my friends, because I have to *kill* them if I don't!}

With her eyes closed, she couldn't see what was happening, but she could hear small cries and noises from the others, and Ayako's continued chanting. {I will... keep this up... as long... as they... need me to!}

Her knees locked, and her body went rigid as she fought the pain, fought her own instincts to simply hurl the burning thing away from her. {I! WILL! NOT! LET! THEM! DIE! BECAUSE! I! WAS! WEAK!!!}

Her teeth went entirely *through* her lower lip as her jaw clenched. Her arms trembled and shook. Her body was on fire, or made of fire, always burning and never to be quenched... burn sear agony pain there was no END-

and then, suddenly, there was one. The pain vanished, and Sakura suddenly realized that she didn't have the crystal in her hands any more. {Oh, NO!! Stupid, stupid Sakura! I dropped it! Dammit... no! I let everyone down...}

Then she felt the hand on her shoulder. Not wanting to open her eyes and bear witness to the scene of her failure, she murmured, "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be, Sakura... You were wonderful," Sailor Moon's voice came to her.

Sakura's eyes flew open to see Sailor Moon in front of her, the Crystal in her hand from where she'd evidently lifted it out of Sakura's palms. She, Ayako, and the rest of the Senshi and Devil Hunters all looked as sweat-drenched just-ran-a-marathon worn out that Sakura felt, but there wasn't a red eye or fang to be seen among them.

{I don't think I've ever felt this happy in my entire life,} Sakura thought.

This lasted for about one minute.

"What's going on?? Who's been using that scale of Holy magic in *my* castle??" Morrigan stormed as she came through the doorway - and froze as she caught sight of both the scene and the uncorrupted, but exhausted, girls, Sakura among them.

"Oops. Um... Hi, Oneesan..." Sakura said lamely.