Disclaimer: Nyet! Nope! Non! Not at all! It's not mine! None of it! Yeah. I do not own Sailor Moon or any related trademarks, what have you, et cetera. You'll get nothing if you sue me. Seriously, Takeuchi-sama… I'm not going to hurt them, I promise!
7 – Overwhelmed
Nothing in a thousand years and then some could prepare Nephrite for the sobbing ball of thunder princess that launched herself into his arms. Her arms flung around his neck and he had, for a moment, her full weight basically suspended from his cervical vertebrae when her knees gave out. The smile never left his face as his arms wound back around her, gently this time. Makoto generally refused to cry – always had – and as a result was nowhere near a ladylike weeper. She cried with all her heart into the crook of his neck… and he knew not all of that wetness came from tears. When someone like Makoto, Princess of Jupiter cried, it became a free-for-all of snot, tears, and saliva all over… If he tried to say he had expected anything else, he would have been lying, and he had sworn that off.
"Let it out, love," Nephrite cooed into his love's electrically frazzled hair. "I'm right here…"
She clutched harder onto him and sniffled heartily.
"But how can that be?" she whimpered, lifting her wet face momentarily. "You… you… so long ago… You weren't here!"
Her voice choked off into sobs again and her spine seemed to protest holding her vertically now. Nephrite felt her sag against him in between violent cries, so he gathered her shaking limbs and lifted her tenderly into his arms. The starlight guided him back to the wrecked covers of her bed and he sat on the edge of her mattress, holding her close to his chest and letting her continue to cry. It took a moment before he realized the presence of tears on his own face… He watched in mute bemusement as one slid down the bridge of his nose and then dropped off the tip into her hair.
"It's all so much, isn't it?" he whispered, feeling her hand twist in the back of his jacket. "I admit… I have no idea where to begin."
Makoto lifted her tear-streaked face, wiped her eyes ungracefully on the back of her hand, and sniffled hard one more time.
"Don't," she choked out, tears beginning to flow again. "Just… just be here."
Nephrite let go of her and let her hold onto him just long enough to pull off his gloves and set them on the night table where the lamp had been. Next moment, he threaded one hand carefully into her hair as the other rested palm-down on the bare skin below the hem of her camisole. Makoto's body felt hot all over from the exertion of trying to beat him senseless and then crying her heart out. His fingers traced the ridge of her spine, feeling her shake. However, as violent as her anger and tears had been, they seemed to be subsiding. He expected she would probably have some questions…
"Is this real?" her smallest voice asked him.
Part of him wanted to pour his heart out for everything he had done.
"I don't know," he smarted off instead, grinning at her. "See if that lamp is still broken in the morning?"
Her green eyes darted to the bedside table and Makoto swore.
"How is it you're here?" she asked again, unable to wrap her head around what had happened thus far tonight. "The last time I saw you…"
A gentle finger laid over her lips hushed her.
"Don't," he commanded at first. Then he softened. "Please… It hurts me to remember too."
Nephrite had never seen his true love look this kind of lost before, staring up at him with hollow eyes.
"Then how?"
His eyes guided her gaze to the full moon outside the window. Makoto smiled in understanding, promising herself to bear-hug her Queen next time the occasion permitted. She brought one hand down and reached for Nephrite's. Privately, though she loved Mamoru dearly, she had always questioned why Serenity was the only one to get a second chance with the man she had been destined to love. Then again, the girl would never change – she would fix everything for her friends… eventually. This one just happened to occur to her now, right? Right… The thunder princess's breath started to stabilize and she simply laid her head on Nephrite's shoulder, halfway draping her body across him. Anger and crying had sucked all her energy just as quickly as an evil monster.
"So… you're here to stay?" she asked on barely more than a breath.
Nephrite smiled, his long hair forming curtains around the both of them as he bowed his head to kiss her forehead.
"Serenity gave me only one condition," he told her. Makoto frowned in concern, to which he replied, "Don't worry. She will forgive me all my transgressions… if you do?"
Makoto turned this over in her head. Again, typical Usagi – she'd forgive anybody for anything, until they messed with one of her friends! So it made sense… The brunette warrior princess smiled and leaned up to press a kiss to Nephrite's bruised cheek. Her lips trembled as they touched his skin, and they both shared a soft laugh when he winced at the contact. She pulled back and tilted her head at him, smiling as she hadn't in the memory of two whole lifetimes, plus this one.
"Does that answer your question?" she asked him.
Her true love shook his head.
"No." He slid one hand under her chin and captured her gaze before laying his lips so lovingly over hers that a single last tear leaked from her eye and rolled down her cheek. When he pulled back, he caught the tiny drop with one fingertip. "But that does."
Makoto settled all the way back, finding her pillow as she lay across him.
"Nephrite?"
He shifted around, lifting her to do so, and laid beside her.
"Hmm?" he hummed in soft question.
The warrior turned on her side to face him, draping one arm over his chest and laying her head on his shoulder.
"Welcome back," she whispered. "My love…"
