A/N - Gomen Minna! So sorry for the long wait. Life continues to throw curveballs at me it seems. :( But on the bright side, I have finally worked my way through a piece of writers' block .I've been wracking my brains for a few chapters now as to how the Shittennou should transform and call upon that power for the first time. We never see it, other than Tuxedo Mask's one time rose transformation so I have really been stuck there but I think I have found a way that I like and that I think works.

Now hopefully, if things stay calm enough around here for me to get time to write, I can get on with this story! :) I am also finding the New Sailor Moon Crystal inspirational, so you may find some of that feel here too eventually. :) And don't worry, there shall be plenty of awesome senshi action and more romance after this little piece is through and our scouts can henshin. Just bear with me.

This chapter is fairly short but I wanted to get you something tonight while I work on the rest. Happy New Year and Happy reading, hopefully.

Chapter 16 Part 1: Haunted

Matai's thoughts were troubled. As his feet leapt from rooftops across alleyways his mind raced as if to catch up with him. Conflicted feelings and unbidden thoughts raged through him. He had run into Sarah again and things had gone badly yet again. He always seemed to be in the right place at the right time for her to throw something at him, bump into him, or fall into him. It seemed like fate was literally trying to throw her at him in a way, and he could almost appreciate the humor in that. But every time they touched, he suddenly found himself nearly speechless. Somehow the only thing he could think of to say was to tease her. She always made that pouty face when he did it, and often would stick her tongue out at him. Maybe that was why he did it, to see that face. He didn't know. His heart would start racing and he was hardly aware of why he did anything, as long as it got a reaction out of her and kept them talking for one second more.

It was if he were two people. There was a part of him that screamed no, that warned him against opening his heart fully. Just last night he had had a conversation with Luna about it.

"Why don't you tell Sarah who you are? Don't you see the way she makes moon eyes at you as Tuxedo Mask? You have always loved each other, so why not let her in? You're not worried that she'll reject you are you?"

"No" he said quietly, "I am more afraid she will love me."

"What?" exclaimed Luna, feline eyes arched high. "Why then?"

"Luna, what would I tell her, that I am her long lost husband, and that we created a kingdom together once on Earth, and that we have lost our only…that we have lost everything including our only daughter?" His voice cracked and his fists tightened at his sides. It was the first time he had spoken of it since Luna gave him his memories. He could see by the look in Luna's eyes that she too mourned and had been sorry to pass on that memory.

"It is because I love her that I bear this burden. It is a hard enough grief to bear alone as it is, but if I saw this grief reflected in her eyes, if that much sadness also filled those kind, smiling blue eyes, I would…I would…" He took a shaky breath, calming himself.

"Luna, I know it will happen. I don't know how much longer I can hold back from her, but please, just let her smile a little bit longer. I want to see her innocent, kind eyes just for a while more." The conversation had struck Luna speechless, but he knew she would keep the secret.

He was so intent on untangling all of these thoughts and regaining his focus that he nearly missed his target. It was a building with two wings stretching out to either side of the main lobby like giant arms waiting for an embrace. From the battered sign out front he could gather that it used to be a hospital but had long since fallen to ruin. Graffiti was splattered haphazardly all over the front doors with sarcastic earnings like "Give up and die!"

He paused for a minute, taking in the layout of the building, and finally decided to enter the non-traditional way, from the roof. The neighborhood was eerily quiet. Candlelight shined in none of the windows and he couldn't even spot a feral dog scrounging for scraps. Slipping In from the attic through the maintenance elevator shaft, he found himself in a silent hallway where even his footsteps seemed intolerably loud. The paint was peeling, and hospital equipment lay in shambles in every room. Some of the beds sat haphazardly in the halls.

Eyes alert and watchful he made his way downwards as quietly as possible, knowing that he mustn't let his attention waver for an instant in this foreign environment. On the second floor he came through a children's ward littered with small wheelchairs, walkers, and toys. It was eerie and he walked more quickly in hopes of getting through it without bringing up painful memories. A squeaking noise stopped him in his tracks and he spun around. In the center of the floor was a small rocking horse on wheels. The sound of the rusted springs squeaking was what he had heard. It was slowly bobbing under its own power back and forth. He blinked, unsure of what he as seeing, but the rocking horse suddenly stopped. A shiver crept up his spine, but he turned his back on it and continued on down the hall with even quicker steps.

Just as he was successful in convincing himself it had been a figment of an over-imaginative mind, a wheelchair rolled out of a room to land right on his toes. Now there was no doubting it. Kicking the wheelchair away he stood defensively. "Who's there?" He was met with silence. Walking more slowly now he passed a few more rooms, looking carefully in each one. Something whizzed out of the darkness and hit him in the head, but instead of a deadly blow, he found something fluffy falling ono his shoulder and onto the floor. Picking it up, he beheld a small brown teddy bear, dusty and with one arm torn off. A child's laughter suddenly filled the room, which slowly changed in pitch to a deeper laugh that seemed to echo in the building.

"Show yourself! Who's there?" He was met by more laughter which bore a more and more maniacal tone. He reached a hand up defensively to where he kept his baton and rose. A rubber ball brushed past his feet and continued to bounce on down the hall as if a child were playing with it. Beginning to get angry, he ran after it into the darkness, determined to get to the bottom of this, and especially to retrieve the Moon transformation brooch.

He felt the floor give way beneath him too late.