"Come to think of it, does your evil organisation give you Sundays off?"

Nephrite blinked in surprise. Then he chuckled. And he chuckled again. It was such a brilliant thing for the girl to say.

The emotions that played out on the girl's face in response were beautiful to watch. She chuckled with him, closing her eyes with pleasure. "You're laughing!"

For some strange reason knowing that she enjoyed it made him want to do it even more.

"It's weird. My eyes are tearing", Naru interjected between the laughter.

It felt good to be there, sharing mirth with the girl. He found himself looking forward to those "chocolate parfaits" she wanted to have with him, whatever they even were. As crazy as it was, between her being a human innocent on the one hand, and his duties with the Dark Kingdom on the other, he expected they could actually make that happen.

Danger!

Nephrite barely managed to get Naru out of the way when the demon's thorns pierced his chest.

"You let your guard down", one of the three demons taunted, floating in front of the lovers. "These thorns will suck out your energy. What a miserable way to die", it laughed.

Nephrite was barely listening. He had felt worse pain in his life, but rarely. Had he been a mere human, he'd be dead already. That wasn't important, though. Naru was right behind him.

"If you don't want the girl to die, hand over the black crystal", his attacker demanded.

His powers were slow to answer his will. The thorns truly were debilitating, especially lodged so hard in his body.

"Run, Naru-chan", he groaned.

"No!"

"Run, fool!" he pushed her away.

"No! No!" She ran up to him again, and grabbed the thorns. Her face contorted with pain as the demonic power struck at her too. It was good, he realized, that she was only experiencing it through her hands, not an open wound. Still, for a human with no magic, it must have been torture.

"Do you think you can pull out my thorns with just the strength of a human?" the demon sneered.

Naru seemed to refuse to disbelieve that she could accomplish just that. Ignoring the pain, she pulled as hard as she could. Though her efforts were only irritating his injury further, something told him to say nothing. It wouldn't work. Perhaps Naru simply needed to have given her best effort, to be able to live with herself later.

Instead, he watched for the right moment, before the demons got impatient and attacked, but after Naru started to realize it was hopeless. That would be his one chance to convince her to run before she got herself killed.

"Nephrite-sama, please don't die!" Naru cried, and pulled once more. Some of the thorns actually moved!

No! The man knew the demons would not just watch if they thought she had a chance.

"Impossible!" his attacker yelled. "Then I will finish you both off!"

Summoning what little strength he had left, he threw himself protectively over Naru just as magical explosions went off around them.

He lost conciousness, though it must have been only a second or two when he was fully out.

The rest of it was a blur. He barely could hear Zoisite appearing, taunting him. He wasn't sure if he even responded.

He was pretty certain that he tried again to get Naru to run, and that that, again, didn't work. Foolish girl. She had done more for him than he would have thought possible, and it felt right that his dying thoughts should be of awe and gratitude. But there was nothing more she could do.

Then there were noises of fighting. That annoying Sailor Moon and her two sidekicks were there, perhaps settling with the demons the matter of who would get to finish him off.

When his head cleared, the battle was over. The Senshi weren't attacking, but he knew that didn't mean he would get to live.

He looked up. "Sailor Moon."

"Yes?"

"It looks like your identity will stay a secret, after all."

No, please don't die!

Sailor Moon wanted to say those words, but the futility of it stopped her. This, this was how combat could end. They'd been so lucky, she and her friends. They had been in many fights, and only came away with scrapes and bruises. The same was true for Tuxedo Mask. What would...

Usagi's train of thought crashed as her mind produced an image of Tuxedo similarly wounded. She paled.

It could happen one day. What would she do then? Would she be kneeling by him, helpless, exchanging last words like the two lovers she was looking at right now?

She knelt by the cat at her side.

"Luna?" she whispered.

"Yes?"

"If something like this happened to... to Ami-chan or Rei-chan..."

The girls looked at her strangely. She forced herself to continue.

"...what would we do? Would there be nothing but to watch?" she motioned her head meaningfully towards Naru and Nephrite.

"Well..." Luna looked at the girl, then shook her head. "There is a magical item I haven't given you yet. You will soon be ready for it, but it isn't quite safe for you right now."

Usagi's breath caught for a moment.

"What is it? How does it work?"

"Really, is this the time for this?"

"Please, Luna. Tell me. It matters to me."

"It is the Moon Stick. You hold it, and say 'Moon Healing Escalation'. It harms demons, too, and also-"

"Let me see it."

Luna looked at her suspiciously.

"Sailor Moon, this is dangerous! You aren't ready yet!"

"Let me see it!"

Luna's mouth shut involuntarily. She'd so very rarely had a chance to see Usagi like this: not scared, not petulant, not being a baby, not even demanding. Decisive.

With a sigh, she produced the item and pushed it towards Sailor Moon.

The girl grabbed it and stood up, then faltered for a moment. A part of her had hoped that Luna would refuse. It was dangerous, after all. Right now that part was screaming loudly at her stupidity. Luna had always been the one to push her towards danger, not away from it, so...

She looked at where Nephrite was dying, saying soft apologies to Naru. A strange sort of clarity came over Usagi as she watched a tear fall from the girl's cheek. Slowly, slowly it seemed to fall.

I am a soldier of Love and Justice! she remembered her own voice.

Does that mean anything?

The tear fell on the ground. The man Naru was holding started to vanish.

Sailor Moon raised the Moon Stick high.

"Fool!" Rei yelled, and rushed at her, reaching for the object in her friend's hand.

"Moon -"

Something grabbed Rei's other hand, stopping her.

"Healing -"

The momentum turned Rei around, showing her the frightened but determined face of Ami, who was holding her in place.

"- Escalation!"

When Sailor Moon first saw the benevolent shining flowing through the air, it seemed easy. For a second it felt one-sided, like watering plants, or aiming a flashlight. The impact the ethereal substance she'd expended was something to watch, with Sailor Moon herself feeling no connection, no effort. It would work, or not, but that would be it. She'd done her best.

Once the sign of the moon appeared on Nephrite's disappearing form, she became harshly aware that it did not feel like that any more. It seemed more like reaching across an edge to offer a hand to someone about to fall down a deadly drop, needing to support their weight and to lift them back up. It was hard. As Nephrite's body kept becoming more insubstantial, albeit more slowly, she realized it could in fact be very hard. It was like a tug of war with death.

When it came to love versus death, Usagi knew which side she stood on more clearly than anything else in the world. Abandoning caution, she gave it her all. Tiny beads of cold sweat started forming on her forehead. She lost track of the passage of time.

Nephrite's body pulsed, becoming more and less real in turns. Usagi bared her teeth in effort, her jaw clenched, the muscles in her arms and shoulders and back tensed uselessly. Naru watched, agape.

Finally, the man's form solidified. The wound was gone, though his uniform was still torn.

Sailor Moon collapsed to her knees.

He was alive.

Somehow, Nephrite marvelled, he was still alive. There was still some pain in his chest, but not the tearing herald of death from before. His head was being held in caring hands, which was surprisingly comforting.

He opened his eyes. The lovely face of Naru was the first thing he saw, and he felt strangely grateful for that. He blinked. She seemed unhurt, and he felt grateful for that too, though it was not pleasant to see the pain in her face.

"I'm all right", he said soothingly. And smiled. He'd said it because she was clearly scared to death for him, and he wanted to make her feel better. And yet he really was feeling quite well, considering. "And I'm not even lying."

Naru managed to smile through tears. "I'm so glad."

"How are you doing?"

Naru shook her head with a sob. Like I could worry about myself at this time! she seemed to be wanting to say.

Nephrite caressed her cheek, and she looked up at him in a way that made him feel strange in the chest. He smiled at the girl, then gently pushed her away to stand up.

His gaze took in the three girls and the cat. His eyes narrowed.

Naru stood next to him, touched his arm. "Sailor Moon healed you, you know", she said softly. "They said it was dangerous for her. I hope she's all right."

So the girl had healed him. For the second time that day he felt affected by confusing emotions.

Naru had stood in front of an attack that could have killed him, ready to protect him with her life. However feeble his grasp of such feelings, he knew what made her do so. When he in turn took the demons' attack to protect her, he had to admit now, after the fact, that he knew what it told him about himself.

But what reason had Sailor Moon to risk herself for him? That would be something altogether different, and the response that briefly arose in Nephrite was different too, something that he had known only in a past life, learnt to suppress long ago, and by now barely remembered.

It really did look like that healing had taken a lot out of Sailor Moon. Not surprising, given how far gone he had been. Ironically, while he had just come back from the brink of death, he was quite sure he felt better than his rescuer right now. He certainly was far more fit to fight.

An interesting situation, the ever-present tactician in his mind observed. There were three Senshi there, but one was a fixed point of vulnerability that the others had to protect. That offered possibilities.

No, that was not what he should be thinking about. He grimaced, and turned.

Naru grabbed his hand. "Are you going to disappear again?" she whispered, too softly for the Senshi to hear.

Nephrite opened his mouth, intending to explain how he had to report back to Queen Beryl. If he didn't do so soon, he might get teleported back against his will, which would not bode well, besides being humiliating. As long as the binding spell on his uniform was empowered, his life was at the Dark Kingdom's mercy, and of course removing it would be as good as announcing rebellion.

He closed his mouth without speaking. No. This had to be resolved here, and there was only one way to do it that made sense any more. He shook his head at Naru and smiled sadly. Then he gently removed her hand from his and turned towards the other girls. He took a step.

The fiery, red-clothed one was instantly in front of the fallen Sailor Moon. She looked like she was ready to snarl.

The smaller blue was at her side almost as fast, her face serious. She'd actually formed the preliminary gesture for her confusing attack, ready to unleash her power at a moment's notice.

Rei spared only a glance towards Luna, watching the approaching man. It was uncharacteristic of even her to challenge their cat-mentor, but this time things had gone too far.

"Why did you let her do this, Luna? Why? You shouldn't have given it to her!"

"Sailor Mars, I... I had to." Luna didn't think she could explain. She had shown Usagi her disapproval enough, when the girl was being a crybaby, or lazy, or inattentive, which was pretty much all the time. If she couldn't support her when she was being a true Senshi, if she couldn't believe in her when the girl was acting out of her highest impulses, that would mean she, Luna, had decided that Usagi was worthless altogether.

Luna would have rather died than thought that.

"That's... all right," Sailor Moon gasped. "I'm all right. It wasn't so bad. I'll be ready next time."

She looked up. The dark general watched her through the small opening between her protective friends. His face revealed nothing. Glaring at him, she forced herself to her feet. She was breathing heavily, but if her foolish action put her friends in danger, the least she could do was to not let them face it without her.

Seeing her stand, it was Nephrite's turn to drop to one knee. He ripped off his shoulder epaulettes, and gestured. Some sort of magic seemed to short-circuit in his uniform. He threw the insignia away, and touched a fist to his chest, looking straight at the exhausted girl.

"Sailor Moon, you have saved my life, and it is now yours. I offer to pledge myself to your cause. Will you accept?"

"What!?" Usagi and Rei said at the same time.

Naru was only a moment too shocked to speak. Then she held her hands to Sailor Moon in supplication. "Please, please say yes, Sailor Moon!"

Usagi's only now realized her mouth had dropped, so she closed it. A big child inside her was violently demanding access to her vocal cords in order to complain loudly about her suspicion that she was being mocked. She swallowed hard to better hold it in.

Ami whispered to the odango-haired friend. "Say something."

"Say: I accept your pledge", Luna corrected. "If you think this is wise, which I'll spare you my opinion about."

Blushing and feeling rather foolish, Sailor Moon said, "I-I accept your pledge." On impulse, she inclined her head in a way that she hoped was elegant and kind. Fat chance, probably.

Nephrite bowed his head, then stood up.

Naru breathed out in relief, and ran up to stand by her beloved, took his arm. Ami allowed the magic for her already prepared attack to dissolve.

"Thank you", the man said softly to Sailor Moon. "Perhaps this is not the best first question to ask a new employer, but..."

Usagi stared, confounded.

Naru's teary face brightened. She started chuckling.

Nephrite stole a glance at the girl at his side. His mouth also showed a hint of a smile.

"...does your evil organisation give Sundays off?"