Suddenly, there was silence. No song ringing in her ears. No brother pleading with her to stay. No ghost berating her. Aquarius looked around as she eased her hand out of the strap of the duffel bag. The Surrounding never changed. It had stood for millennia, and probably would continue to do so for the forseeable future. Something about that was comforting. Even when all of the senshi had fallen in the past, it had survived. It was broken and weak in places, but it continued to exist. No matter what mistakes she made, she doubted it would fall due to her actions.

Finally, she had something that would last in spite of her interference. After months of worrying and plans gone awry, failing to spare her family and friends from the horror that was life as a senshi, she had a place that couldn't come to harm. The relief that Aquarius felt was almost palpable, and as she touched the gate to her outpost, dragging the duffel along behind her, she savored the feeling of the rough stone under her fingers. It always yielded to her, but she knew without being told that it would keep intruders out.

Not that there would be any intruders. Chaos had been banished from the Surrounding. Normal people couldn't come there anymore. No matter how hard they looked, nobody would be able to find her. With one possible exception.

This was best for everyone. Kent would be safe, and Evie, and Yvette, and everyone else she cared about whose lives she hadn't already ruined. She would be able to do her job without dealing with trivial things like school or relationships. Her chest tightened as she thought that, but she kept moving, leaving a line in the sand behind her as she dragged her bag. No matter how much those 'trivial' things may have meant to Tara, she couldn't deny that the fate of the universe was more important. It had been pushed to the sidelines too often by her, in favor of her personal desires. That time was over.

No wonder the Zodiacs needed to die. It was, Aquarius thought, the only way to accomplish the complete severance that was necessary to do the job right. What she had thought was a curse was in fact the universe trying to help her, giving her the perfect means to 'die' and be reborn as Aquarius. If only she had realized that sooner, before Tara was allowed to revive. She had spent the better part of four years in anguish due to her incorrect assumptions, and by the time she figured out what the right path was, there was no way to make a graceful exit.

Still, exit she had. Tara, poor tormented Tara, could finally rest easy. And Aquarius could finally settle down to doing her duty, as she should have done in the first place. It would probably hurt for a while, but she would get over it and move on. So would her family and friends. Maybe, given enough time, they would even forget about her. That would probably be best.

Aquarius tripped over the bag as the implications of that hit her, falling to her knees on the sandy ground. The Outpost wasn't much farther, but she felt no pressing need to hurry towards it. Sure, the sooner she got there, the sooner she could save the world, in theory. The library had to have some sort of answer for her, some way of resolving the situation. But now that she was alone, she had a hard time pushing herself to find it. Even if she solved everything, she wouldn't be able to go back. She couldn't fulfill her promise to Yvette, not after what had happened, what she had done. So what was the point?

"You tell me. This was your decision."

It wasn't much of a shock that Exidor was still there. If anything, Aquarius was surprised that he had kept quiet for so long. Maybe if she was quiet in return, he would stop yammering at her. Silence was preferable to a constant stream of criticism.

Yet what she really wanted was some sort of confirmation that she had done the right thing. This was what Exidor had been pushing her towards since he'd shown up. It had to be the right answer. She just needed to hear it from someone else, even if that someone else was herself.

"I did it because it was the right thing to do. Isn't that the same for you?"

Aquarius looked up to find her past self sitting on her duffel, looking down at her with a solemn expression. "I never chose to exile myself. That choice was made for me."

That was not what Aquarius wanted to hear. "I didn't want it to come to this either! This was the only way to-"

"You did choose this! Even if you run from your social entanglements, you cannot run from that fact. You had other options, but you chose this one."

"W-well, what about you? Didn't you say that this mission was more important than anything else? How could I make any other choice, after knowing that?"

Exidor ran his fingers through his hair, his hood falling back to his shoulders. "I had no choice about being here. What I could choose was how to handle it. I could be resentful, only performing my duties because I had to. Or I could take pride in what I did and find meaning in my life, even on the edge of the galaxy."

"Well, that's-"

"But your situation is the reverse. You had other options, but you chose to exile yourself. You haven't thought about what to do next. What will your life here mean? What purpose do you have here?"

Something about what Exidor was saying struck a chord, but Aquarius was too frustrated to notice. "I'm going to find a way to end things, once and for all. It's not like I was accomplishing anything back on Earth. Because I should've been here all along. That's our job, isn't it? Isn't that what you spent your time doing?"

"Perhaps. But that was because I chose to do so. You-"

"I am you." Oh, he didn't like hearing that, which made saying it even more fun. "Does it really matter which came first, the chicken or the egg? You were destined to come here, and decided what to do about it. I decided to come, because I was destined to do so. Either way, the outcome is the same. Because we're the same, aren't we, Exidor?"

The ghost looked like he was sucking on something sour. He was silent for a while, then got up and shrugged. "As you like."

Wait. Was that concession? Had she actually won an argument with her past self?

"If you are truly happy with your conclusion, then I am happy as well. Since, as you reminded me, I am you."

Aquarius waited, but nothing else happened. Exidor continued to stand there, quietly watching her. "So," she blurted out, "why are you still here?"

"Why, indeed?" was the cryptic reply, accompanied by a trademark snarky smile.

There was just no winning against this guy. Aquarius sighed, stood, and resumed her slog towards the outpost. Maybe this wasn't a bad thing. It wouldn't hurt to have someone else to talk to, even if it was only herself. She had no one else, nor would she, ever again. This was how it had to be.

Pausing, she glanced over her shoulder, back towards the entrance. The gate was still open, as if to say that she could leave at any time. Aquarius stared at it. Then she turned back around and continued to walk, with the ghost of her past following close behind.