Act 30

Usagi, Ami, Rei and Makoto were walking home from Crown. Luna was sitting on Usagi's shoulder.

"That was fun," Usagi said and smiled. "We should have special training every day from now on."

Usagi-chan is always so carefree, Ami thought a little bit enviously.

"Ami-chan," Usagi said now, "I have to be home for dinner, but I'll come back later to stay for the night again, alright?"

"It's okay, Usagi-chan," Makoto said, "I'll stay with Ami-chan tonight."

"No!"

The three girls looked at Ami in surprise.

"I mean… that's not necessary. I don't think that the Youma will come back and anyway… my mother will be at home tonight."

She hated to lie at her friends, but there was nothing that Ami wanted more than to be alone tonight. After all, she had made a decision. Tonight, she was going to figure out who the presence in her room was.

"But your mother won't be able to protect you against the Youma," Rei argued now, looking at Ami as if she could feel something.

"The Youma attacked me when I was alone. I think he would do the same again. Don't worry about me. I'm sure he won't come back."

"If you say so, Ami-chan," Usagi said, and Ami never had been more grateful for her naivety than now.

"But if there's any trouble, you give us a call immediately," Usagi added.

She smiled and handed Ami her cell phone.

"Luna has repaired it. Now it works again."

Ami smiled back, avoiding the dubious gaze of Rei who certainly sensed something. The girls said goodbye and Ami entered her building. She took the elevator to her floor and opened the door to her apartment.

In fact, she still felt a little weak, but she ignored that. She went to the kitchen to put some water on to boil, and took out the can of her mother's coffee.

Truth be told, she hated coffee—she was more the hot-chocolate-type—but special times called for special measures, and she didn't want to go to sleep tonight.

Ami somehow managed to drink the coffee and finally went to her room. She lay in her bed and closed her eyes—not to sleep, but to think of what had happened the day before. She remembered how the Youma had been absorbing her energy, and how she had become weaker and weaker. Before she had lost consciousness, Ami was sure that she had seen a red energy-ball that had hit the Youma. Similar to Mars' fireball. But it hadn't been Mars and the other girls who had saved her. They had arrived later.

"Who?" Ami thought aloud, "Could it be…?"

She rubbed her eyes and looked at her watch. It was already midnight. Time to "go to sleep." She turned the bedside light on and crawled under her blanket just the way she was. All she had to do now was to wait. She hoped that, despite the coffee, she wouldn't be overwhelmed by her sleepiness.

Minutes passed, and Ami's eyes began to burn as she watched the time go by. One hour, two. And then suddenly she saw the flickering in the corner of her room and quickly closed her eyes. Now she had to stay calm, which wasn't that easy. Her heart pounded so fast and strong that she was sure it must be audible. For a long time nothing happened, and it took all of Ami's patience and strength not to peek, even a little. She thought that the presence had left again when, finally, she felt him approach her.

Now he was standing right in front of her. She felt him, so close that she was sure she only would have to reach out her hand to touch him.

She heard a click and the bedside light went out.

It was then that Ami finally opened her eyes and looked into a pair of icy blue eyes.

...

When Mercury suddenly opened her eyes, Nephrite was so surprised that for a few seconds he was unable to move, let alone teleport away. All he was able to do was to stare back.

He actually hadn't wanted to come back, but he had to be sure that she really was alright. He wanted to see her one last time. And then when he had turned off the light she had opened her eyes. This time she had waited for him.

She sat up now and finally he was able to move. He stepped back, ready to teleport.

"Please, wait," she said, and it was the appealing tone of her voice that made him stay. Silence again.

"You weren't asleep," he said unnecessarily. She shook her head and smiled timidly.

"I've been waiting for you," she answered.

"Why?" he asked, harsher than had been his intention.

She winced at the sudden coldness of his voice, but then said firmly: "Because I have some questions."

And after a short pause she added: "And you are the only one who can give me the answers."

This was no good. He shouldn't have been relieved that she finally had found out that it was him who had been visiting her night after night. That she had been waiting for him, that she wanted to talk to him.

He stepped towards her and grabbed her by the neck.

"What if I have come to kill you?"

"You won't hurt me."

"And what makes you so sure?"

"If you really wanted to kill me, you would have done so before, and you wouldn't have saved my life…twice."

"I could kill you right now," he said with trembling voice.

"You won't," she simply said, returning his gaze.

Minutes that seemed hours went by. Finally he let go of her.

"I've come here for the last time," he said, turning around to teleport away.

"Don't go, please! Nephrite!"

The way she called out his name made him stop again. It was so different than when Queen Beryl called him. There was no command in Mercury's voice.

"It…it was you last night. You saved me again. Am I right?"

"And if you are?" he asked, still showing her his back.

"Why…why did you save me?"

Nephrite knew very well that she didn't mean just this last time. He sighed and looked at her again.

"I don't know," he finally said. Of course this was only half the truth, but it was better to leave it at that. Anything else would make things more complicated.

But when he saw the glimpse of disappointment in Mercury's gaze, he suddenly regretted his answer.

"I had to," he added, "That's all you need to know."

"And why do you come here every night?"

Well, that question was a little bit more difficult to answer.

"Is that it? Are those all your questions?" he avoided her.

"No," she said softly.

"What else could you want to know from me?"

She hesitated, still hoping for an answer. He stayed silent.

"I…I wanted to know…" she bit her lip and then asked: "What was I like when I was in the Dark Kingdom?"

This was a question he really had not expected. Why did she ask him that?

"Don't you remember?"

She shook her head.

"I think you'd better ask your comrades that."

"They don't want to tell me."

Of course not, Nephrite thought. Mercury was good through and through. They certainly wanted to spare her.

"Maybe they're right to do so," he said.

"Please. I need to know what happened. I want to know what I've done."

"And why do you believe that I'll be the one who's going to tell you all this?"

"I don't," she answered, "but I hoped so. I hoped…"

She paused and looked at him. Her gaze felt like an arrow that went straight into his heart.

This is wrong, he thought and stepped back, though unable to break her gaze.

She jumped up and grabbed his arm. He was so surprised by her touch and how good it felt that his first reaction was to shake her off again. For a short moment an injured expression appeared on her face.

"I have a right to know," she finally said.

This, he knew, she was right about. But why did he have to be the one to tell her the truth? To cause her all this sorrow? And why the hell did he care about her feelings, anyway?

"Do you really think you're strong enough to hear the truth?" he wanted to know.

She looked at him in surprise. She had certainly not expected him to agree. Then she nodded.

"You won't like it, Mercury. This could change everything."

"My life changed the moment Kunzite has kidnapped and brainwashed me. I hate to be in the dark about these things. I need to know the whole truth."

Nephrite sighed. Finally, he leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms.

"What do you want to know?" he asked then.

Ami felt how her fingers, her whole body, trembled.

Nephrite had answered all her questions. She knew that he'd been honest and hadn't downplayed anything. For that she was grateful. That was what she had wanted: to know the truth. Nevertheless, she couldn't help feeling truly shocked. She had fought her own friends. She'd been ready to kill them. She had seen them as her target and had been full of hate against them, especially Sailor Moon—Usagi-chan—whom she had almost killed.

At some point, she had not been able to sit still anymore and had stood up. Now she was leaning on a chair and there was silence.

"I…," she finally said, "I am a bad person."

"No!" Nephrite answered, and she looked at him in surprise. She had expected that once he'd answered her questions he would leave. But he had stayed the whole time.

"I wanted to harm my friends. I was ready to kill and destroy them. How can you say I'm not?"

"It wasn't your fault. You've been overcome with dark power."

Ami was confused. Why did he defend her?

"I was weak, that's why Kunzite was able to kidnap me. I have a weak mind, easy to manipulate."

She was near to tears, but she forced herself to pull herself together.

"Nobody can resist the Dark Power of Queen Metallia," Nephrite said, his voice suddenly soft. "It's too strong."

"You don't understand!" she shouted. "The truth is, back then, I was angry with my friends. They all went their own ways and I felt lonely and… somehow betrayed. So it was no wonder Kunzite could catch me that easily and fill me with Dark Power. It was my weakness and my anger that made all this possible. That's why I know for sure that I'm a bad person."

She couldn't hold it back any longer. Hot tears began to run down her cheeks.

Nephrite didn't know if it was her tears or the ridiculous idea that she considered herself a bad person, but suddenly he found himself standing before her, holding her trembling hands.

"You are wrong," he said, "I don't know a lot about friendship. But I've seen how close you all are to each other. So I'm sure that just feeling angry with a friend doesn't make you a bad person. If there has ever been a thoroughly good person I've met, it is you."

She looked at him in surprise, and then she buried her face in his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly while she sobbed quietly, her hands lying on his chest.

At this moment he didn't care anymore if this was wrong or right. All he wanted was to hold her in his arms as long as possible.

When Ami felt Nephrite's arms around her, holding her that tightly and tenderly, she wished that this moment would last forever. In fact, what he had said was just what she'd needed to hear. Of course her friends had forgiven her and had left her dark past behind, but deep inside Ami always had feared that maybe she had turned bad because she had something evil inside her. To hear those few but meaningful words, from a man who actually was her enemy, meant more to her than anything else.

"You know," Nephrite suddenly said, "You weren't really that bad."

She looked up at him.

"What do you mean?" she asked, but paused when she looked into his icy blue eyes. It was like time, the earth, stood still.

With one gloved hand Nephrite dried the tears from her cheek.

She shivered, unable to break his gaze. Lost in his incredible blue eyes, she didn't even dare to blink. What was that? It felt so familiar. It was like a memory, but ungraspable. But deep inside her, she suddenly felt that this had happened before. He and she. Did he feel that too?

And then, suddenly, Nephrite winced and pushed her away.

"I meant what I said," he said, stepping back, "Tonight, I came here for the last time."

"Nephrite!"

The thought that he would leave that way threw Ami into despair.

"What… what did you mean when you said that I wasn't that bad?"

"It doesn't matter," he answered, "We both know that this is wrong. I am your enemy."

"Just this one last question," Ami begged now, ready to use anything to make him stay longer.

"We have already gone too far, Mercury."

"Please! I… I don't care. I don't want you to leave."

She bit her lip when she realized the confession she just had made. Nephrite stood still, looking at her in surprise.

"You… did you…?" he started to say, when suddenly Ami heart the noise of a key, followed by the door opening. One glance at her watch showed her that it was already 6am. Her mother was coming back from work.

Nephrite had heard the noise, too, and prepared to teleport away. When he looked at her one last time, he hesitated.

"Tomorrow," he whispered, "where we saw each other for the first time." Then he was gone.

Ami stared at the empty space he had left behind. She tried to ignore the feeling of hurt about his sudden retreat.

She lay down. She could finally try to get some sleep now. But it wasn't that easy. Again and again she repeated Nephrite's words in her mind.

"Tomorrow, where we saw each other for the first time."

What did he mean by that? Where could that be?

Rei looked up at Ami's window and frowned.

It had been more than obvious that Ami had been trying to get rid of Usagi, Makoto and herself. Rei had felt that she had been up to something. This had been the reason why she had stayed near the house, observing the window of Ami's room.

Something strange had just happened up there.

She'd felt a presence in Ami's room that had only just disappeared. But although it had a darkness to it, Rei also had felt that it wasn't actually evil. And what had been the strangest thing of all was that the presence and Ami's aura somehow had been strongly interwined. And this had ultimately been the reason why Rei had not done anything.

Now the presence was gone, and Ami's mother had arrived, too. There was no more reason for Rei to stay.

"Ami, what are you doing?" Rei whispered, and turned around to go back to the temple.

"I'm going to kick that bitch's ass!" Makoto hissed.

Ami got hold of her arm.

"Mako-chan, calm down."

"How am I supposed to calm down? That bloody pop idol has turned the whole class against Usagi. What's her problem?"

Makoto made a further attempt to walk towards Usagi's classroom and Ami could hardly hold her back.

"Don't be silly. If you beat her up they will suspense you from school. And after all, Kuroki-san assured that she's on Usagi's side."

"And you want me to believe that?"

"The only one who will get hurt here is you, if you get caught beating up somebody who supposedly never wanted to harm anyone."

Makoto hesitated and finally stepped back.

"But I'm not going to have lunch with that... person," she said, and turned around to go to her classroom.

Ami sighed. She could understand Makoto's reaction very well.

It hurt her to watch Usagi beeing ignored by her classmates – expect for Naru. And she felt angry, too. Usagi and the others had been classmates and friends now for years. Now there appeared a pop-idol who twisted the truth, and everybody just believed her without questioning anything. What kind of friends were they?

She yawned and rubbed her eyes. It was no wonder that she was tired. She hadn't slept more than maybe one hour. After Nephrite had left her room, Ami hadn't been able to sleep. Again and again she had repeated his last words.

"Tomorrow, where we saw each other for the first time."

It annoyed Ami that she hadn't been able to figure out the place he meant. After all, wasn't she the smart one?

But maybe it was the lack of sleep that kept her from thinking clearly.

And, after all, I have the whole day to wrack my brain about it, she thought.

"Mizuno-san, what are you doing outside your classroom?"

Ami turned around and looked into the stunned face of her teacher.

"I'm sorry, sensei," she mumbled, and hurried into the classroom.

Naru writhed in agony and fell on the ground. The pain that had overtaken her all of a sudden made it almost impossible to breathe. It was as if somebody had stabbed a knife into her stomach.

"Osaka-san, are you alright?" Mio asked worriedly, and when she couldn't answer, Mio started to cry for help.

"Is anybody there? We need some help! Osaka-san, hold on."

Naru wasn't really aware of what happened then. The next thing she realized was that she was lying on a gurney and Usagi was walking by her side, holding her hand.

"Naru-chan, are you alright?"

Naru wanted to answer, but the pain took hold of her again, and all she was able to do was to whimper.

"Naru-chan, hold on. Everything is going to be alright, "Usagi assured.

Naru felt how she was lifted up into the ambulance. Inside she lost consciousness again, but she was sure that in her mind she had heard an evil laugh.

Nephrite paced the dark tunnel up and down. He didn't know how long he had been doing this now.

What was going on with him?

He went to Mercury's house to watch her sleeping one last time, and now he had a date with her!

"You know, you weren't that bad."

What in the world had he been thinking by saying this?

"Fool," he said again to himself.

This really wasn't good at all. Why had he said that?

"Because I couldn't stand watching her suffer like that," he suddenly accepted the truth.

Watching her crying because she thought that she was evil... had hurt him.

She had to know that, after all, she had kept something good inside her.

He thought of the moment he had looked into Mercury's dark brown eyes. It was as if a connection had been made. As if he had remembered something, but hadn't been able to catch it. The feelings that had overwhelmed him had been so sudden that it somehow scared him. This had been the reason why he had pushed her away.

And then her plea not to leave.

Had she felt it, too?

No, this was wrong. She also had to know that she shouldn't trust him. After all, he had tried to kill her.

Today he would tell her the whole truth.

If she really knew where to go.

Maybe he should have been more precise, but he had been under pressure; and somehow, he was curious if Mercury would figure it out.

Nephrite sighed and teleported away.

He hadn't noticed the white shape that had been observing him all the time.

Ami and Usagi were walking slowly towards school. Both were lost in their own thoughts.

"Tomorrow, where we saw each other for the first time."

Ami sighed. Yesterday had been so hectic she hadn't been able to figure out what Nephrite's words had meant. And today was the day. How could it be that she couldnt't figure out a simple place?

The girls crossed the bridge and suddenly Usagi stopped short and looked into the distance.

"Usagi-chan, are you all right?"

"Hm," she answered, and kept on walking. "I've just been thinking of..."

She didn't finish, but Ami had understood.

"Chiba-san?" she asked.

"I know I shouldn't," Usagi said quietly, "but – I don't know – the view from here somehow reminds me of him."

"Why is that?" Ami wanted to know.

"Do you remember the costume party we went to, to make inquiries about the Ginzuishou?"

Ami nodded, and resisted a little smile when she remembered Usagi dressed up as a big Teddy bear.

"After we had fought that green triple Youma, this red-dressed Shitennou lost the crystal in a fight with Tuxedo Kamen. I jumped to catch it. Well, I fell, you remember, and Mamoru grabbed my hand to save me. When we fell both the crescent moon scepter..."

Ami had been listening with only half an ear.

"Tomorrow, where we saw each other for the first time."

Of course, she thought, why didn't I remember that before?

"Being up here and looking downstairs… suddenly made me remember all that," Usagi finished, and continued her walk.

"Ami-chan, what's wrong?" Usagi asked when she noticed that Ami made no move to go on.

"I have to go," Ami said.

Usagi looked at Ami, confused.

"Now? But classes will start in twenty minutes."

Ami turned around.

"I'm sorry, Usagi-chan, I have to go. Please excuse me from classes."

She didn't hear what Usagi cried after her.

On her way she almost collided with Mio Kuroki.

"Mizuno-san, where are you going?"

Ami ignored her and simply kept on running.

Fortunately, it wasn't far away, but Ami didn't stop running, hoping he would be there. Her lungs began to burn, but she ignored it.

Finally she reached the building, but suddenly hesitated. What if this wasn't the place?

She looked up and on the top of the building and saw person dressed in red, his cape fluttering in the wind. And although she couldn't see his face, of course, Ami knew that he was watching her.

She walked inside the building and hurried to the elevator. Inside she finally tried to catch her breath, but with every higher number the display showed, her heart began to beat stronger.

This is wrong, she suddenly thought, I'm betraying my own friends.

But it was too late now. Nephrite had been right. They had already gone too far.

The elevator stopped and Ami got out.

"I should transform," she whispered, but let it be. Somehow she knew that she could trust Nephrite, and she wanted to to show him that.

She took one last breath and then she stepped outside.

He was standing at the edge with his back to her.

She stood beside him and looked at the houses and buildings below them.

"You should have transformed at least, Mercury," Nephrite said tonelessly.

"I don't need to. You won't hurt me."

"What if this is a trap? Maybe you are surrounded by Youmas."

He looked at her and she couldn't help but shiver.

"But there aren't," she simply answered.

After a long pause Nephrite smiled, and with it all the hardness yielded from his face, making Ami's heart nearly jump out of her chest.

"No, there aren't, and there won't be," he said, and took one step towards her. "I could never harm you, and I won't permit any other to do so."

"Why," was all Ami was able to whisper.

Slowly, Nephrite took her hand in his.

"Because, in a moment when I'd been down and all alone, you were the one who showed me an act of kindness."

"What... what did I do?"

He suddenly let go of her.

"I didn't tell you everything yesterday," he answered. "There is something you need to know. The reason why you cannot trust me."

Ami held her breath, waiting for what was coming next.

"I tried to kill you, Mercury," he said.

Ami swallowed and her hands began to tremble.

"But… you didn't," she finally answered.

"Because I was weak. If I had been at full strength at that moment… I would have done it."

For minutes that seemed like ages, no one said a word.

...

That's it, Nephrite thought, now she will leave.

He tried to ignore the pain this thought provoked in him. It would be better that way, better for her.

"Why," she suddenly asked, "why did you want to kill me?"

Nephrite frowned. He really didn't expect that question. In fact, he hadn't expected her to say anything, nor that would she stay. But she was still there, standing right before him, and she wanted to know the reason why he'd wanted to kill her that day.

"What if I did not have a reason?" he replied, "What if I tried just for fun?"

"If it had been so, you wouldn't have tried to kill me when you were weak."

He looked at her in surprise. What was going on with that girl? He just had told her that he wanted to kill her, and instead of running away, she wanted to figure out the reason why.

"Why did you want to kill me?" she repeated her question.

She wouldn't let go of the matter, Nephrite realized, and finally he answered: "I… I was mad at you."

She simply looked at him, waiting for him to continue, giving him all the time he needed.

He remembered how weakened he had been after Mars' attack. Down on his knees. And then Dark Mercury above him.

"Don't look!"

"How pathetic."

The anger he felt. Anger about his failure, again. Dark Mercury calling him pathetic, something he had in fact been. His inability.

"You called me pathetic." He immediately regretted his words. Why did he say that?

"So I provoked you?"

Again she surprised him.

"Somehow," he could simply answer.

"But now you've saved me twice…why?"

Nephrite looked at her in confusion. Would she really forget about it just like that?

"Do you really understand what I have told you? I tried to kill you! And if I had been at full strength…" He cut himself off. Just to think that he really could have succeeded…

"I'm not blaming you for what you did," she simply said.

"Why?" it was now up to him to ask.

"When I was evil, I was ready to combat my friends. I almost killed Usagi-chan. And after all that, they have forgiven me. They don't blame me for what I did. Partly because I was under the influence of the Dark Power; but the other thing is, that's what real friendship is. You forgive one another's mistakes. Usagi-chan and the others always knew that my true self never wanted to harm them. They trusted me despite the curse that had been laid upon me."

"But I wasn't under any curse."

"Really?" She smiled sadly. "Anger and fury can be a strong curse, maybe even stronger than anything else. I just can't blame you for your actions in rage. It wasn't your fault and after all, wasn't it my own fault? I should not have provoked you in a weak moment."

"You," Nephrite said truly surprised, "What is it with you? Why are you so… good?"

Her smile faltered.

"I'm not," she answered, "I…"

"Don't be silly," he interrupted her. "I've just told you that I wanted to kill you, and you're not blaming me even a little bit. You're telling me something about forgiveness, but you aren't able to forgive yourself."

"Well, you obviously aren't, either."

"That's different."

"Why?"

"Because I was about to kill the only person who has ever been kind to me."

"Was this before or after I was that kind to you?"

"That doesn't matter."

"It does to me."

"Before."

"And what type of kindness did I show to you?"

"You gave me a new cape."

Mercury smiled again, and only then did Nephrite realize what he had just said. He suppressed a curse.

"A new cape?"

He closed his eyes and sighed. What was going on with him? The more he tried to push her away, the more he felt drawn to her, the more things he said to make her stay.

"Kunzite had cut mine," he finally said, "And after Queen Beryl had repudiated me, you came and gave me a new one, saying that somehow you didn't like… to see me alone."

There it was, he had finally told her.

"Sounds just like me," Mercury answered, "so this means that after all, I kept something of myself inside of me, even when I was evil."

She looked at him and smiled again.

"And this was why you saved my life? Because I had given you a new cape?"

He couldn't help but smile back.

"It wasn't simply a cape to me," he explained. "It was much more. I think that was the first time somebody did something for me. The first time somebody had cared about me."

Mercury took a step towards him and slowly took his hand.

"You must have been very lonely," she said softly.

Nephrite did not really know what he should have answered. All he was able to do was to squeeze her hand back.

"And why did you come to my room every night?"

Well, he had to expect that same question again.

"Because...it...you give me peace."

The smile she gave him was like a flash of warm light that illuminated him and went through his whole body straight to his heart.

Suddenly he saw that tears were running down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Mercury said and dried them away quickly, "you must think I'm a crybaby or something else."

"Not at all," he answered, "It doesen't bother me. If I'm honest, I...even like it."

She looked at him in confusion, obviously not understanding. He smiled.

"Because it gives me a good reason, to do...this."

And he took her into his arms, holding her tightly. She sighed and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Standing like this, Nephrite knew that he had lost the battle against his feelings. Because that was what he had always longed for. Affection, respect, somebody who cared about him.

"What are we doing, Mercury," he made one last effort and held her before him, "We shouldn't... This is wrong."

She looked at him, in her gaze nothing but tenderness.

"Then why," she whispered, "does it feel so good...so right?"

He didn't answer, but took her into another embrace, which was answer enough.

"You know," she suddenly said and looked up to him, "You don't have to wait until I cry, to do this."

"To do what?"

She smiled and a delicate blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Take me into your arms."

There it was, she made him smile again. He took her face into his palms to caress her cheeks.

"That's good to know," he answered.

...

Ami's heart almost burst when Nephrite carressed her cheeks, drying away the last tears. She didn't know how long they looked at each other. She had lost her sense of time anyway. There was only him and her.

And then, slowly, he drew his face to hers. She held her breath, her heart hammering faster and faster.

Ami's phone bleeped twice and made them both wince.

I'm sorry," she said and took out her phone.

She had a text message from Usagi:

Ami-chan, let's have some cake and tea at the center cafe! Mako-chan and Rei-chan are coming too. CU there in half an hour! U.

"It's Usagi-chan," Ami explained, "She wants me to meet her with the other girls. I..."

"Go," Nephrite said softly.

Ami nodded and put her phone back into her case.

"Will I see you again?" she asked shyly.

"Is that what you want?"

She nodded, suddenly unable to look at him.

He placed his hand under her chin, lifting it up until she had to meet his gaze.

"Me too," he answered.

She tried not to show him too much, how relieved she was about his answer. Before she could say anything, he had taken her into another embrace. He held her tightly, as if he wasn't willing to let her go; and she reciprocated.

Then, gently but firmly, he pushed her back.

"Go," he said again.

She nodded, turning around to step through the door; but when she opened it, she hesitated and looked back to him.

"When...?" she started to ask but suddenly felt silly.

"Soon," Nephrite answered, "I have to be sure no one else knows about this. I don't want to put you in danger. We have to go on as if nothing has happened."

Ami smiled and nodded again, and then she stepped through the door, forcing herself not to look back.

She felt like she was in a trance as she entered the elevator and went down.

When she finally stepped outside the building, she suddenly began to fear that maybe all this had just been a dream. But when she looked up she could see him, a red shape, standing up there. She smiled and waved and then started to run.

"We have to go on as if nothing has happened."

Ami knew this wouldn't be easy; but she also knew, more than anything else, that she wanted this. She wanted to be with him. And besides, it was already much too late to make another decision. For she felt that she was already lost to him and this made her...happy.

She ran the whole way with a lucky smile on her face.

Zoisite watched the young girl running down the street. He looked back at the building where Nephrite was still standing on top.

Only when she was out of his sight did he teleport away.

"Nephrite and... Mercury," Zoisite said to himself, and finally teleported away.