A/N Hi everyone, Anna again. Just wanted to say thanks to my reviewers skiser, micatite, silvereyesrose, and filmmaker! Please don't forget the little button in at the bottom left that sends me love! By the way, if there's something you want to see in the story please send me a pm or something. If it just won't work with the story I'll try to write a one-shot for ya. Thanks very much! And now, it's Mako-chan's turn. Also, I'm just randomly giving the generals weapons so yea P

Disclaimer: Don't own, never will.)

Really, there was only one thing to do when one is upset, and everyone has their own thing. For Usagi it's eating everything in sight while crying, for Ami it's calculus, for Rei it's coming up with new curses to place on the offending object-slash-person, and for Mako, well it's cooking. Nothing soothes the soul like the smell of bubbling sauce or the aroma of fresh spices, and nothing, absolutely nothing is better than homemade chocolate chip cookies. For Kino Makoto that is really the only way to work through her problems. And her problem right now involved a pint sized little piece of earth with a huge emotional tie. It wasn't helping matters that it kept flashing and wobbling on her table, which was of course, perfectly stable, rendering her unable to forget the fact that it was there, which was precisely the reason she had started baking cookies in the first place.

With a sigh, Mako set down her bowl of dough and stared hard at the slab of rock, willing it to still. This of course, did absolutely nothing, and in fact, caused the stone to start dancing around the table of its own accord. Glaring, Makoto stalked to the table and grabbed the stone off its' surface. A muffled sigh came from the stone, and Mako dropped it in surprise.

Owww! Watch it Sparkie.

"Excuse me?"

Hi gorgeous.

"Don't 'Hi gorgeous' me Nephrite."

Oh? Is there someone else I should be "hi gorgeous"-ing then?

Makoto was about to respond when she realized how stupid it was to be arguing with a rock.

"I'm not doing this. I am NOT talking to a rock."

Yes, you are.

"No I'm not."

Yes!



"No."

Yes! The voice emanating from the stone had a decidedly singsong, taunting quality to it, and Makoto finally decided she'd had enough.

"No. And to prove I'm not, I'm going to stick this non-talking rock in the freezer." Makoto grinned to herself, knowing full well Nephrite hated cold places; in fact, he rarely went outside during winter months because even with a jacket he was freezing.

Mako, that's not nice.

"Don't use the familiar with me!"

But Dear, I AM familiar with you. Intimately so, if you recall.

"You weren't that memorable." This statement was meant with silence from the rock, which was being held next to the open freezer door. After a few moments of quiet Makoto began to feel uneasy. I can't believe I'm doing this, the thought flitted through her mind even as she leveled her face to the edge of the stone's surface. "Sorry," she said, as she kissed the rock quickly. Then next thing Makoto knew, she was lying face down on the kitchen floor, a full four feet away from the refrigerator.

You all right?

"Fine." While Makoto was rubbing at the knot forming on the back of her head, she glanced at the fridge and almost screamed. "You! You're-you're here, I mean there, I mean. Wait, what's going on?" For there, flickering in front of her, was Nephrite. Or at least what looked like Nephrite; brown eyes locked on her emerald ones, brown hair styled as usual, uniform perfectly spotless, and a mischievous grin that had so often graced his face.

Hi.

"Hi."

Looking good Sparkie.

"Uhh- yea. Thanks, I think."

How ya been?

"Not bad, yourself?"

Well, other than being stuck in limbo, or purgatory, I still can't quite tell which; betraying my Prince, and the love of my life; tortured by a witch with a sadistic plan; and watching myself destroy everything I held dear, without being able to do a damned thing about it, not too bad.



"…. I was the love of your life?"

The image of Nephrite glared at her. Trust you to pick up on that. Yes, the love of that life, and all others.

"Oh…."

Please don't cry. You know I don't handle tears well.

"Sorry. Gimme a minute." But Makoto resolutely held back the tears, and just sniffled for a minute or so. "This sucks."

Yup.

"Can I ask you a question?"

That depends. Are you going to start crying again?

"No. I promise."

Of course.

"Why did you? I mean-"

Why did I kill you?

"Yup."

I couldn't stop it. Something happened, I'm still not quite sure what. Zoi's theory is that something…invaded us. Like a shadow.

Realization dawned on Makoto and she nodded slowly. "Beryl had shadow warriors that could, like, infect people? If that's the right way of saying it."

That's it exactly. I guess we became infected, and none of us realized it until it was too late to stop it. Near the end, we tried to fight it off, the four of us together, but they had too much of us by then. And Beryl locked our minds away, using our bodies as both catalyst and host. But she made sure we saw the destruction.

"I-I see."

Do you? Can you? Can you see what I saw in those last moments of your life? Do you wish too? I'll tell you. You looked at me with such hatred, such maliciousness that I swore it wasn't you. Then you lifted your sword against me, and I felt the shadow's smile stretched my face. Your clothes were stained with blood, the blood of innocents, the blood I had spilled. I saw a child crumpled at your feet, blood seeping from far too many wounds. Even then, even when you thought that the one who loved you best betrayed you, you still had such pity in your eyes for 

the innocence of a child. And I saw in your eyes the hate you held for me, for taking that innocence away. I wanted you to kill me, I craved it, wished for it so hard that I think part of it broke through.

"There was just enough time for me to kill you before I died as well."

Do you see now?

"Yes… But I don't blame you."

How can you not blame me? I'm too blame, for all of it, for everything. It was my fault. And there is no forgiveness for traitors. Nor should there be.

"You just said you weren't in control."

That doesn't make it any less my fault..

"So you would blame yourself when you could do nothing."

Yes.

"That's stupid and self-defeating," angry now, Makoto heaved herself up from her position sitting cross-legged next to Nephrite, and began to pace. "My parents, they died in a plane crash when I was six. I've been on my own ever since. They flew home early because I had called them and told them I missed them."

That's not the same thing Makoto.

"How is it not? My actions caused my parents death. I was more in control then you were of the situation."

How would you have known?

"And how could you? How could you have known that a shadow would take you over?"

…

"Mako- one. Neph- Zero."

This doesn't change anything.

"Dear, it changes everything."