Jupiter

"Not many people know this, but I grew up in the Dark Kingdom and was a slave to death when I was younger."

Nephrite's eyes widened in shock as he nearly slammed his coffee mug down on the table. "What? Really? How did that happen?"

"I was born on Jupiter, but spent most of my childhood on Earth. I was never really needed at the Jupiter kingdom since my parents and older sister were there, and… I don't know, I guess I was just drawn to the lifestyle on Earth more than my own planet. I was manipulated into joining Dark Kingdom at a young age and that's where I learned martial arts and physical combat."

"But didn't the Dark Kingdom just recently form, before the start of this war?"

"Technically no. Beryl proclaimed herself as a ruler long before that, and has deceiving people into joining her and taking part in her wicked ways for as long as I remember. Several Moon Kingdom missionaries would travel to all the planets and share love and Truth with people long before this war, and the ones who went to Earth really pissed Beryl off because they called her out on her lies and mistreatment of people. She always hated Queen Serenity and our mission because everything we stand for goes against everything she did and lived for, and she sought to destroy anything standing in her way. It was a slow process in forming her full army; it didn't just happen overnight. Her demons helped escalate the process right before this war started, but… it was always evil over there. And even before this huge world war broke out, we had several smaller battles on that side of the world whenever the missionaries were there because they would get attacked by Beryl's armies. Endymion and his men never got involved because Beryl managed to prevent the word from getting out about it and these battles ended relatively quickly. That's probably why you didn't know. The rest of us in the Dark Kingdom knew of the Moon Kingdom's mission, but we were raised to believe it was evil."

"Wow. I can't believe that I had no idea about these battles. But hey, the Truth can be offensive to those who don't want to face it. What was it like, being with them?"

"That kingdom lives in the dark, so that's where I lived when I was with them. I loved the darkness because I could hide all my flaws there. I never realized that darkness is a deceptive enemy. Everyone there is afraid of silence, so they fill every moment with empty, idle words. They all lie, so you can never truly know the genuine identity of a Dark Kingdom solider."

"How did you escape all that and end up here?"

"One night, I was spying on a Moon Kingdom base during a battle, when I was captured and taken to the moon and brought before Queen Serenity. At the foot of her throne, where I laid trembling on the ground, was the most brilliant light I'd ever seen. There was no darkness to hide in, and for the first time I saw all that I really was. The silence in this place was immense because in the light of the Queen, there is nothing to say... only things to realize. I had been an enemy of this powerful Queen all my life and if she had sentenced me to death right there, it would have been right... it would have been justice. Amidst these heavy thoughts, I was startled to feel her hand under my chin as she leaned down and lifted my face to her own. She spoke with a love I'd never known before, saying, 'We only want voluntary allegiance in the Moon Kingdom. If you stay here, you will be changed and it will feel like the old you has died. Or, you may remain in the darkness as a slave. Either way, I love you, my dear girl. You are free to choose.'"

"So you stayed."

"Well, not right away. But as I left the moon to go back to my Dark Kingdom camp, I questioned everything I'd ever known. I realized in the face of the Queen's love that all my love was selfish and not really love at all. It was true that the only way for me to be changed would be for the Queen to kill who I had become and raise me up to live again, making me new."

Nephrite's starry eyes were glittering. I had never seen him so intrigued by a story.

"Our Queen is good," he said.

"I couldn't agree more. I didn't deserve such love, but she gave it to me anyway."

"So, how long exactly have you been here in the Moon Kingdom?"

"A little less than three years. I was the last of the Senshi to arrive here."

"Wow. That's not long. I didn't realize…"

"Like I said, most people don't," I smiled at him. "Unless someone asks me about it, I usually only tell the full story to those closest to me. Guess you're one of them now."

"Well I must say, for being here that short of a time, you've definitely grown and matured a LOT into the faithful servant that you are today."

"What about you? What's your story?"

"Eh, it's nothing special. Ever since I was born I was raised into this faith. I don't have an exciting story or anything."

"Hey, you shouldn't feel bad about that. I think having faith your whole life is awesome! You don't need to have something dramatic happen to you in order to have a powerful story. Surely there came a time in your life when you were able to think for yourself and still decided to follow your faith, right?"

"Well, I guess there was a time when I started questioning it all and thought that it logically didn't make sense. I looked at science and all the philosophies of the world and wondered if I was just believing a fairy tale. But then I remembered that the whole point of faith is not to have proof, and to not understand everything all the time. That's what drives us to have reverence. And looking around at the people in my life and seeing how God was working in their lives and the miracles that would happen, and looking up at the stars and the massive universe… I knew that there was no way this was all fiction."

"See?" I stretched my arm across the table and placed my hand on his. "That's a powerful story."

He smiled. "Have I told you lately that I love you?"


A/N: Just to clarify, the Senshi might seem out of character at times, but in this story they're intended to be older and more mature than in the anime/manga.