Imara Mason stood in the master bathroom of the house she shared with her boyfriend...and his guest...and her cousin….and the dog.

Every day the house seemed to grow in size and yet, that did not make anything easier. Instead, everything seemed to be getting harder to more time that passed. Mathias though was thriving. Imara could not be happier for him. Business was growing. His matches were going well. Heck, even Training corps was doing well. Things were looking up for him!

But what about her?

Leaning over the bathroom sink, Imara was gazing down at the white stone as she tried to come to grips with what had happened that evening.

She had stalked her prey perfectly. The drug dealer that had given Jane her latest hit was dead and would never haunt anyone again. Jane would begin to wonder if she was cursed. Heck, Imara didn’t care if that rumor spread. Work with Jane Mason or whatever name she gave and you end up dead. No, it was pretty perfect to her cousin.

What did bother her was the image of that little senshi turning the corner.

She couldn’t take the shot….

It wasn’t about honor or loyalty. It was duty. That little brat was a white moon senshi and she, an agent of the negaverse, could not put a bullet through her brain.

“What the hell is wrong with me?” Imara hissed out, her hand smashing out to the side sending the container of mouth washing falling to the ground. “That was a simple shot! She didn’t even try to make it hard! I could do it in my sleep!”

Picking her head up, she gazed into the reflection of her own face. “I’ve killed countless times so why...why couldn’t I kill her…”

The truth was staring her straight in the face.

She couldn’t take the shot because that senshi posed no threat.

It was not a wild animal for meat. It was not a drug lord preying on the innocent lives of others. It was a young girl, scared out of her mind that she had just done nothing to stop something from dying and was reacting. She couldn’t take the shot because that little girl honestly didn’t know any better.

“Damnit…” Imara hissed again, turning from the sink and heading into the shower she had turned on how long ago now? It was scalding but that was what she needed. She needed all of that feeling to melt away and drain into the sewers. Everything needed to empty out of her…

Then she would sleep. Crawl into bed into those sheets and let darkness take her.

Then she would regroup. Refocus herself on her tasks. She was failing her General. No...she was failing the man she had grown to love. She would not allow this to affect her again. Her mercy tonight would not be the start of a weakness. She was just...tired.

That’s all this was. A tired lapse in judgment.

One she would not make again.