AN: Wow, this chapter was more difficult to write than I thought, even though I already knew what was going to happen.
Tuxedo Kamen had just let go of Moon's hand in order to welcome the newly restored Nephrite. However, he had barely taken a step when the sound of a hand hitting flesh was heard. He blinked as he realized that Nephrite simply nodded, though he did reach up and touch his face where the hand print was showing.
"That was for killing me." Jupiter's voice was calm as she looked at Nephrite. "And this…" she took a step closer to him, closing the distance between them. "Is for coming back to me."
Nephrite was surprised when he felt the Senshi's lips on his own, but only for a moment. Oblivious to the others, he put his arms on the strong beauty's waist and returned the kiss that she had started.
"Aw! Yay!" Moon was positively squealing.
Unfortunately, not all of the Senshi shared her opinion of the scene that had unfolded before them. Mercury was blushing, and trying to look away from the two. Mars' eyes were full of fire, and Venus, despite being the Senshi of Love, seemed to be entirely confused.
Kamen had gone ahead and continued his walk down to the lip-locked heroes. Zoisite had laid his hand on Mercury's shoulder, about to whisper something to her, when Kamen stopped and gestured for him to join him. With a huff, Zoisite squeezed her shoulder and then headed after him.
Mercury bit her lip and then headed toward the Bakery, "I'm going to ascertain whether there are any injured who need help before ambulance arrives."
Venus nodded, "Just the serious ones, Merc. We need to be leaving soon." Mercury nodded, using doing triage to distract herself from thinking about how easily Jupiter seemed to be able to forgive or wondering why she was not able to let Zoisite back in so completely.
Tuxedo Kamen allowed the couple another moment once he reached them before he cleared his throat.
Jupiter and Nephrite separated at the sound, though Jupiter's expression was one of annoyance. However, Nephrite immediately went to one knee, bowing his head, and putting his fist over his heart. "Sire."
Zoisite grinned, "You really did ask for that, Kamen."
Kamen frowned, shooting a look at Zoisite before turning back to Nephrite, "Rise, Nephrite. And please, don't call me Sire." He shook his head, and then once Nephrite stood, embraced him. "We're friends."
"Of course, En…"
Zoisite shook his head and mouthed, "Tuxedo Kamen" to Nephrite.
"Tuxedo Kamen."
"That's better." He grinned and stepped aside.
"Welcome back, Star-gazer."
"Thanks, Peacock." The two hugged briefly, and while they did, Nephrite whispered to Zoisite, "You better take good care of her, Peacock."
Zoisite rolled his eyes as they parted, "Star-gazer, I'm tired of the threats. She's strong, and the only one I'm worried about if I hurt her."
"You really are a genius."
"Yep, and if you don't mind, this genius is going to go check on the one person smarter than himself."
Kamen smirked, and Zoisite moved to help Mercury with triage, though there were few who needed any special care, and she was mostly done when he got there.
"We need to get out of here. We should go to the Temple. All of us."
Mars' eyes narrowed as she turned on her Princess. "They are not welcomed in my Temple, Moon."
"Mars!"
Venus stepped up, "No, Moon. I agree with Mars. We need to keep certain things secret."
Moon raised an eyebrow, as everyone else gathered around. "What certain things, Venus?"
"Identities? Particularly of the who-know-who…"
Moon rolled her eyes, "Zoisite, do you know who everyone is?"
Zoisite grinned, "Considering Mars almost turned me into a cinder, Saturday, yeah, I think I'm on track."
A look of understand crossed Nephrite's face, and he mumbled to himself, "Oh, that's what that was all about."
Mars glowered at Zoisite.
"Nephrite, who am I?"
Tuxedo Kamen rolled his eyes at the questions, "Moon, are you sure you know what you're doing? I'd rather not lose any of my Shitennou."
"It'll be fine. Nephrite?"
Nephrite looked to Kamen, who nodded. Shrugging, since he had gotten permission from his Prince, he answered the question, "Usagi and future Queen of Crystal Tokyo."
"WHAT?!"
"Um… guys, we really should be going. The Ambulances are coming."
"This is not over, Nephrite." Venus' eyes held a promise of danger, which was also echoed in Mars'. Jupiter just seemed confused.
Once they reached the Temple, with Mars still muttering under her breath about how wrong it was for Zoisite and Nephrite to be there, Venus took control. "All right, since you apparently know who we are, its time that you show us who you are."
Mercury grimaced and moved to stand beside Zoisite, who gently put his hand on her shoulder again.
"Guys, he knows who we are. We should go ahead and transform back." Before the others could protest, Usagi was standing where Moon had previously been.
"Usagi! How can you trust them? Do you not remember what they did?"
"Mars, didn't Artemis tell you?" Ami had transformed back into herself just after Usagi, as had Zack.
"I did." Artemis and Luna joined the others.
"Just because he told you that, does not mean that's what happened, Ami! He knew what you needed, and so that's what he told you."
An iciness came into Ami's eyes that the others had never seen before.
"Uh-oh." That was Nephrite.
"I'll have you know, Mars, that I did not just believe him because I wanted to. Luna and Artemis confirmed that it was possible. I believe him. And that should be enough."
Mars clenched her jaw and then sighed, returning to her normal form. "Fine. But…"
"Rei, I swear, if you so much as finish that sentence, I will freeze you where you stand."
Rei took a step back. "I just don't want to see you get hurt, Ames."
"All right, so we've established that Ami trusts Zack." Minako's voice sounded rather impatient, everyone had transformed back to normal except for Nephrite. "I think there is still the question of who Nephrite is."
Makoto turned to the Shitennou rather expectantly, though there was also a look of pain in her eyes, and as she looked at her former lover, she whispered an apology to her current boyfriend. "Neil, I'm so sorry. I just…"
"You have nothing to apologize for, Mako." De-transforming, Neil stood before her. The changes were slight, a light in his eyes that reflected knowledge and a touch of pain. A fullness in his smile, a sharpening of his features.
"Neil?!" Makoto sat on a nearby chair rather hard. "Neil? You're… you're…" Her mouth started working, but without any sounds or words coming out of it.
Neil moved to kneel in front of her, gently cupping her face. "Yeah. I'm Nephrite. But I'm still Neil, Mako. I'm very much still the man who is in love with you. Just now, I'm completely me. In a way I never was before."
"But… I don't understand."
Neil nodded, "I know."
She shook her head, "No, Neil. You don't know. I thought… I made…" She blinked looking at the man before her. "I saw how right Ami and Zack were. How completely right. And I didn't want to hurt you, but I wan… needed that. I needed that too. So…" Makoto took a deep breath, "I wished that Nephrite would come back to me. I think, I just wanted another chance, another opportunity to see if… to find out if I could have that rightness with someone."
Neil smiled at her, "Makoto… shh. Its ok."
She shook her head, "No. I knew… I knew it would hurt you, and I still wished. And…"
Neil smiled and gently took her hands in his, bringing them to his lips and kissing the backs of them. "Mako, Lightning, I know. I remember. And everything wasn't completely right with us, because I wasn't completely me. You didn't hurt me."
Mako smiled and he leaned in to kiss her cheek softly. "We'll be fine, Mako. I promise."
Everyone had been so focused on Makoto's own break down, that no one had noticed that Rei had backed up into a corner in the temple, her eyes wide, shaking her head. "No. No. No. No!"
Minako turned and blinked, confused by the priestess' reaction. "Rei, its her decision. I understand that you're still angry. I am too. But…" She shook her head with a slight smile, "Who am I to stand in the way of true love. As long as they both understand that if the past repeats itself, there will be no mercy."
Zack and Neil both looked to Minako and nodded, but it was Zack who spoke, pain in his voice as he gently tightened his hand on Ami's shoulder, "We wouldn't ask for any."
Usagi shook her head, "I don't think that's what is bothering Rei."
Rei had barely heard the others. She registered that Minako was maybe starting to believe them, to believe that they really had been under Beryl's control, that they had not wanted to do any of what they had, but that was in a corner of her mind. The rest was screaming at her, denying what she knew to be true. The priestess had closed her eyes and continued to shake her head, repeating no over and over again.
Ami frowned, and then looked at Zack and Neil. Comprehension flooded her eyes and she said "Oh" very softly. She realized that her friend had done the simple math and was trying to deny the result.
She gently patted Zack's hand and moved over to Rei, gathering her in her arms, as if she had not been angry at her just a few minutes before. "Rei. Its ok."
Rei shook her head, even as she clung to Ami. "No, it's not. Ami, it's not. I cannot… I absolutely cannot do this. I can't forgive him, Ami. Not after everything he did to me. And… even if it was not his fault, he abandoned me. And he killed me. And now, now you're telling me… No."
Minako looked absolutely confused, which was only made worse when she saw the expressions of sympathy on the expressions Usagi, Mamoru, and Zack. Fortunately, Neil and Makoto seemed to be just as confused as she was.
"What? I don't understand? What is it"
Zack took a deep breath, when he noticed Ami nod at him slightly.
"The Star-gazer there and I have been friends for years. And for the last two years, I've been trying to get the beautiful Dr. Mizuno to go out with me. For almost that long, Makoto and Neil have been dating. Our other two friends have also been dating during most of that time."
Minako blinked, "Um… please don't take this wrong, but what does you two guys have gay friends have to do with anything?"
Everyone groaned, but it was Mamoru who spoke, "He didn't mean they were dating each other, Minako."
"My best friend, a young man I'd been basically raised with…"
"Wait! Isn't Jay you're best friend?"
Zack nodded, and everyone, including Neil and Makoto who had realized what Zack was going to say, waited for Minako to take the next step. When she did her eyes got bigger and she looked to Rei with pain in her eyes. "Rei, I'm sorry. Look, Makoto said that they were brought back when she and Ami wished for that to be so."
Zack blinked and looked to Ami who blushed.
Mina continued, "So just don't wish for Jadeite to come back, and everything will be ok."
Rei shook her head, "Its not that simple! We need them to defeat the enemy. To bring about Crystal Tokyo. To keep Usagi and Mamoru alive." A tear slipped down her cheek, "This is too much to ask, but we have to, Mina. We have to."
"Not right now, Rei. You don't have to right now." Ami gently stroked the brunette's long hair. "Not until you're ready."
Rei's laugh was bitter, but it was everything she could do not to inform her that she would never be ready.
Minako was biting her lip, "So… if Jay is Jadeite, who is Kunzite?"
Everyone, including Rei, rolled their eyes. Nephrite cleared his throat, "I suppose I should answer that, though its news to me as well. Minako, who is my best friend?"
"Kevin… why? You're not saying that… oh. You, you are saying that."
Artemis shook his head slightly, "And yet she's such a good commander. I really think she chooses to be this clueless."
"Hey! I resemble that, Artemis!" Minako was smiling. And Ami thought twice about telling her it was "resent" thinking that maybe that was exactly what Minako had meant.
"Um… guys." Everyone turned their attention to Ami, who had moved back to Zack once she was sure that Rei had calmed down. "I realize that that was pretty big just now, but I think there's something else we need to talk about…"
