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Subamara pulled Liryn up against her chest, where she could hold him with one arm. The cat’s voice was so weak, and she wondered if he was already hurt. She held the trashcan lid in her other hand, a shield over him, but it looked like she didn’t need it. Athene’s bead trap was working like a charm, and the nasty creature couldn’t break out. Athene totally had the best magic.

His voice startled her back to attention, and she had to admit only her own coffee magic gave her the agility to get clear as the trashcan sailed by her. Maybe her magic wasn’t completely useless either. Careful of the tired cat in her arms, she bolted back towards Athene, taking herself and Liryn out of the immediate danger zone. She would need to put the guardian down somewhere if she was going to help fight, but there didn’t seem to be anywhere he would be safe, so she just shifted him in his arms and readied the lid for a discus if they needed it.


*


The youma stomped its front hooves against the bead barrier. It felt that this strange wall was weakening, and even though its front leg was still tingling-numb from the green light, it wasn’t patient enough not to try to knock it down quicker.

Its red eyes couldn’t easily focus on the beads as they glowed, but it could see the figures moving away from it, and the big silvery thing coming through the air.

Between the cat’s claws and shiny light, and its earlier crashes into the walls, it was not in a good way. The trashcan was nearly as big as it was, and hit it squarely in the face, then bounced over to land on its back, impaled with a metal squeal on the long spines.

The youma opened its mouth as if for another angry roar, silently toothy.

Then it exploded into dust.

The pincushioned trashcan clattered back to the ground and rolled a few feet further.

With the eerie squeal of tin on spine, and the final trashcan clatter, sounds dulled back to ordinary levels, as if the drift of youma dust muted them. Subamara could hear the faint thunder of distant traffic, her own breathing, rapid from her sprint. The soft thrum of Liryn’s purring. She could feel the gentle vibration through her arm where she held him. Thank goodness they’d got to him in time. Athene’s bead magic kept him safe.

Moving carefully so as not to jostle the tired guardian, she moved to the side of the alley and leaned the unused trashcan lid against the wall. She didn’t need a shield or a discus anymore, but she did need her hand free to apply further scritches to Liryn’s ears.

Usually, this was the point where good senshi ran away, she thought, vanished into the shadows. Found themselves a phonebooth and came out as their ordinary human selves. She didn’t quite know how to do that, when one of her dearest civilian friends was standing before her in butt-wings. She had failed so hard at secret identities. And she’d kind of made him break his, too.

“I’m fine,” she answered his question, her voice far more subdued than normal. “But are you? You just got out of hospital...”

And saying it felt strange, because she was still looking at Eternal Sailor Athene. And somehow he was Arian too? And all the things Athene had told her, all his advice, and the time he’d come to her rescue, had been Arian as well. He’d done so much for her. And she hadn’t even recognised him!

Okays all round. That was a relief, Subamara thought, still running her fingers over the cat’s soft ears. He looked peaceful now, and so cute. Athene had called him Liryn. She’d remembered right.

She watched Athene from beneath her curls as the silence lengthened, unsure what to say to a friend who wasn’t quite the same friend. He was two kinds of familiar, and somehow that left him strange. His worried expression urged her to say something, as he looked away. She didn’t know what, until he spoke first.

“Sorry?” she repeated, baffled. “What are you sorry about? We beat the youma. Athene… All this time it was you, looking out for me! I can’t believe… You walked me home! You protected me. When I felt so alone, you had time for me! And it was always you, and I didn’t know. I’m sorry!” The words all just spilled out. Her voice was suddenly high and tight, too full of emotion that was going to be tears if it didn’t go somewhere. Tears or really teary laughter, it was hard to tell.

If. If Arian had to be part of this war, (which sucked) she was so glad he was Athene. An ally. A double-friend.

“You have nothing to apologise for! I’d hug you, but there’s a cat.”

“Sorry, Liryn,” she added, resettling the little tabby more safely in her arms.

He remembered her. He hadn’t forgotten.

The implication that they’d been lying to each other didn’t even register with Subamara. The important thing – the only thing - was that they weren’t alone in all this mess of magic and monsters. She did notice the blush, but she had been serious. Even though Arian – Athene – wasn’t such a huggy person, she knew she didn’t have enough words to express how much his presence meant to her, then and now. He was like a guardian angel, wings and all. He was the best friend.

“Thank you,” she said, long overdue.

She drew a deep breath, letting it out in a mostly even laugh. “Okay, no more apologies, then. Though we may have to agree that Liryn defeated it himself, because I’m not sure how much use I was.”

Their auras were more noticeable, now the youma wasn’t there to focus on. The discrepancy between their power levels was obvious. Subamara bit her lip, glancing around the alley and rooftops above her. Besides the cat in her arms, and Athene’s intense eternal signature, they might as well have been alone in the world. Though the banging of the youma had easily penetrated the café walls, the everyday noises of the café didn’t reach out here. But Athene was right, it was still dangerous. Anyone could come. She’d been so careless before. But she’d kept it a secret for so long. Did it really matter anymore? Right now, right here, it was just them.

Subamara nodded to herself, as confident as she could be that no other eyes were watching. She let go of the magic, dismissing her henshin and becoming an ordinary girl again, handbag still hanging awkwardly from her arm.

“Is this okay?” Gigi asked, turning worried golden eyes on Eternal Sailor Athene. It wasn’t quite the question she wanted to ask. It was one thing to find an ally in the heat of battle. Powering down, she just felt exposed. Now they had to deal with it. Is it okay that this is me?