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Destiny City was quieter at night, and less crowded. And, in the summer, it was about five degrees cooler on average. That last part, especially, was reason enough for her to take her daily jogs around dusk. Sure, it was dangerous, even in a civilian level. But on a senshi level… even though youma could not detect her powered down, they would still be on the hunt. And she tended to leave her henshin pen in its hiding place back home. So she was, essentially, defenseless.

Not that it stopped her. She was a faster runner than a good portion of youma, and while she might not be faster than the corrupted senshi, she could still scream hella loud if she needed help from a white moon ally. And besides that, she reasoned, she had only seen one youma since coming back. Maybe the war was trickling to an end without her.

Because that’s a likely…

Micah huffed and rounded the bend into the park, its last inhabitants filing out for the evening. Just run, she reminded herself. Run until you can’t breathe. Run until you can’t move. Run until you can’t run anymore, and then run farther.

Micah had long since checked out. Between the rhythmic poundings her steps and the steady in and out of her breathing, it was no wonder. She always lost herself when she was running. And so, when her own name pierced the veil of her thoughts, her stride wavered. Still, it was something she could have recovered from had the speaker not been someone so… Leto. Micah’s wavering stride turned sour as her mind registered what she was seeing. Somewhere between her ankle turning and her overcorrection, she hit the ground in a cloud of dust and cussing.

Run. Run. Run.

For the first time since she first woke as a senshi, Micah regretted not having her henshin pen on her. Not that it would do much good – what was she going to do? Power up in front of Leto? She might be able to duck into the brush but Leto was smart enough to put two and two together. But maybe the heft of it in her pocket would make her feel more at ease. Instead she scrambled to her feet, knees skinned and bleeding.

“L-Leto,” she yelped, finally regaining her footing, clearly worse for the wear. Did Leto know about the mirror smashing she did at her home? Was she angry at her? Micah was just a civilian right now – defenseless. Her first instinct was to scream, like she did with Tortali but… if, by chance, Leto wasn’t angry at her yet, screaming for help would probably do the job.

“I-I wasn’t… expecting you – I…”

Micah made a concentrated effort not to step back. She had to stay rooted in place. She had to act like she wasn’t terrified. So far Leto didn’t seem too angry with her, either because Leto didn’t know she had broken the mirrors or couldn’t see that she had. Whatever the reason, Micah intended to keep it that way. So that meant that she had to keep herself from trembling too terribly. She had to calm the tidal wave in her mind that threatened to take her down to her base instincts and just take off. She had to force herself to smile. Would a wince do? Stop shivering.

Okay, maybe it was time for a new plan of action.

Micah gave into her instincts just a little, taking a step back as Leto approached her. She covered her retreat by locking her gaze over Leto’s shoulder, focusing, however hard it was, on the people suffering behind her. She gestured vaguely, whispering, “can you really blame me?”

What did Micah do now? Did she lie? What if she got caught in the lie? She didn’t know if Leto wanted her hide as Acubens, but if she did, then it was best not having her wanting her civilian hide too. It wasn’t like she was an atrocious liar; she was a little sibling. Lying was basically a genetic trait she was gifted to pin stuff on her older brother. And if she did lie and got away with it, then that lie would have to be covered with another lie. And another. And another. Eventually she would be found out and then… Leto would be furious.

But was lying really the greater evil than telling the truth? Yes, actually, there is something wrong. You see, I spend my night as Sailor Acubens; you know the one. That senshi you outed to her fellow soldiers as basically in league with the devil. Well, I heard that you killed someone and I’m not really certain I want to associate with someone like that. Yes. That would go down wonderfully. Just… freaking sublime.

But then, it wasn’t just that she didn’t want Leto angry at her because she was afraid for her life. She was, Leto was terrifying. A stage above her a blooded. But… even after the revelation that Leto had killed. Even after Acubens had been outed as basically a traitor… she still loved Leto. God help her, and she still loved Lesath and Remarque. And she didn’t want to hurt any of them.

So that’s why you’re not powering up anymore, hmm?

Micah couldn’t stop the sob that escaped her lips. She slammed her hands over her mouth and tried to cool her too-hot eyes.

“There have been whispers, Leto,” she finally revealed, voice barely over a whisper. “And I’m frightened of them.”

Micah searched frantically for an answer. Any answer that didn’t out her as Acubens. Something to clear her name… she wasn’t all that keen on being Leto’s next victim. Just the thought accelerated Micah’s breathing and caused his vision to blur.

Crying isn’t going to get you out of this.

“People are noticing the soldiers with the black uniforms,” she lied. “Black uniforms… and gauzey wings. I can only assume the mean you. I –I mean who… who else would they be talking about…?” Micah paused, momentarily overcome by the fear that wracked her whole body. It took a few seconds before the shaking passed and she was able to cool her eyes again.

“They say… they say they’ve seen you taking lives. Civilian and… those other space fighters, you know? They think its civil war that… that you’ll eventually kill each other out but…”

This time Micah couldn’t quite catch herself in time. Another sob wrenched itself free of her throat before she could cover her mouth again.

Why are you crying, little one?

“I love you Leto, God help me I do, but I’m afraid of you. You as a soldier, you as… whatever you are.” Ever since the ambush, Micah had been forced to see Leto in another light. Suddenly Leto wasn’t the cat who came to Micah’s door step in search of food and company. Nor was she the woman who leaned in her mirror frame and teased her gently. It was easy then, to pretend Leto was a friend. Just a White Moon senshi in a dark fuku. But that night, Micah was forced to look at Leto from a different light. She was a solider, as Micah was, fighting for opposing ideals.

“More than anything I’m afraid of myself for loving you like this.”

Liberating, isn’t it?

That wasn’t really the word Micah would use to describe what she was feeling. It was like all of the conflict from before she left hit her in the stomach like a freight train. It bowled her over and ran her through, knocking the air from her lungs. God, she wanted to crawl in a hole and die. But even that wasn’t the worst. Worse than that, worse than her loving Leto despite her station in relation to Micah’s was that even though she loved her, Micah had managed her hurt Leto.

Yeah, that was worst of all. The woman stood in front of her, clearly happy to see her home after leaving with no warning… she didn’t even know that she’d smashed her mirrors. And yet she wasn’t even angry with her. Leto just wanted answers, she only wanted to keep her safe.

“I was so scared of you that I smashed my mirrors, I didn’t want to risk anything,” she confessed in one breath, unable to see through the cascade of tears.

The was the second time since Micah returned from Scotland that she’d been kissed by someone from the Dark Mirror Court. It sent up about fifty red flag in her mind because should her own court be happy to see her? Maybe they would if she had formed alliances instead of burning every bridge she came to. Maybe if she wasn’t so erratic and panicky, they would have liked her more. Maybe if she wasn’t so focused on answers and more focused on her job. Maybe if she had just listened to someone. Maybe if she. Maybe if. Maybe if. Maybe if.

But then, here was Leto. And Lesath before her. She’d abandoned them. Screamed at them. Blamed them for all of the horrible things in the world. And still there they were. Waiting for her. Holding out their hands for her. Welcoming her home with kisses and hugs and reassurances that everything is going to be alright because that was something Micah needed so very much right now. And between the stroking of her cheeks and the promised of protection her tears failed to stop at all. If anything, they intensified, as a matter of fact, because every time she met one of her friends in the mirrors, Micah resolved to hate them but they just made it so hard.

Suddenly Micah could excuse Leto her actions. Because she would have done the same if she had the skills.

Micah latched onto Leto’s wrists, sniffing and sobbing. It wasn’t fair that the people she was supposed to fight were always so nice to her and that the people she was supposed to be able to count on threw glass at her. It wasn’t fair that from the moment Micah woke up as Acubens, people were horrible to her. It wasn’t fair that she’d fallen in love with a court that was trying to destroy everything Micah held dear. It wasn’t fair that she’d been awakened to the wrong court. Nothing was fair, nothing was right. Everything hurt. And every time Acubens met up with one of the Dark Mirror court, she was reminded of how painful those realizations were. And it hurt even more because she knew where those conclusions were eventually going to lead her, and she didn’t know why she was delaying the inevitable.

“I know,” she finally sobbed, knees weak from the force of her revelations. “I know you wouldn’t. And I’m sorry I got scared.” It only hurt more because Leto wasn’t even mad at her. This would all be so much easier if she were mad at her.

Acubens rested heavily against Leto. God she'd been so stupid. Of course Leto would never hurt her. If she was sure of one thing, it was that if Leto had wanted Micah dead, she would not be standing here right now. But here she was, in Leto's arms and firmly under her protection. She could feel it in her arms and hear it in her voice. And Micah was an idiot for assuming otherwise. IF Leto took a life, and that was a huge IF, then she didn't do it in cold blood. She took it because it had to be done. She did what she had to do because there were no other options for her. She did it to keep the people she loved safe, like she said. And what reason did Micah have to doubt that? Hearsay? She was an idiot.

She finally pulled away from Leto, forcing a smile for both of their sakes.

"I wouldn't dream of it," she muttered, cuffing at her eyes to clear them of the last bit of moisture.

"I'm sorry I disrupted you. I'll let you get back to work." She paused for a long moment, trying to consider her words before she spoke again.

"Um... find me when you're not working. I want to see you again when I'm not a mess. Yeah?"