For the second time in one day I woke up feeling disoriented and with Rufio sprawled across the lower half of my body. A brief moment of panic had me sitting upright in bed though a quick examination of the room proved it to be just as disheveled as it had always been. Rufio, sensing my uneasiness, lifted his own head a moment to offer a quizzical look. At least, what I assumed was a dog's way of offering such an expression.

Feeling a bit more confident that I wasn't trapped in another dream I reached out to absently scratch the large dog behind the ears. "When did life get so complicated?" I murmured not expecting a response but getting one regardless.

"You tell me."

Jack's voice drifted towards me from the doorway and I felt a mixed wave of emotions rush through me as I looked towards him. There was no denying that over the past few days I had developed feelings for the man leaning casually against the doorframe. Now that I knew the truth about Mamoru, that it had been Demando manipulating his actions, I could feel the conflict rising again. I still loved Mamoru and now I loved Jack too. Was it possible to love two people in much the same way?

"Jack," I said nothing else coming immediately to mind.

Perhaps it was the tone of my voice, the expression on my face, the look in my eyes, but something drove him to move, to settle himself on the edge of the bed and pull me against him. I went willingly, almost gratefully, savoring the sense of strength and protection he offered.

"I'm sorry I dragged you into this," I said after several long seconds. He stayed silent to I continued on. "There is so much to explain, so much I'm not sure you'll understand." I felt his arms tighten around me before they went lax and fell away. He pressed his hands to my shoulders and pushed me far enough away to meet my eyes.

"I haven't been entirely forward with you either, Usagi," Jack said his voice the most serious Usagi had ever heard it. "Our meeting that day wasn't an accident though I never intended to hit you with the Frisbee." A little smile tugged at the corners of his mouth but the anticipation of what he had to say kept me from feeling any amusement in the memory.

"First off, I know who you are, who you really are," he said watching me.

I wasn't sure how to feel about that. He knew and he had never told me? In Jack I had

found some normalcy, the feeling that not everything was control by the ghosts of the past. It was disheartening to discover I was wrong, that I could never escape what had been written into the very threads of time.

"How? Who are you?" I asked. Just minutes before I had been struggling with how to reveal my own secret to him when all along he had been keeping one from me.

Jack seemed to hesitate a moment before turning away, almost ashamed of what he was about to say. "My real name is Apollo, at least that was the name given to me at my birth two thousand years ago. Like you I find myself caught up in the cosmic plans of our parents. A ride that refuses to stop no matter how loud you scream. I didn't believe it at first. It came to me in dreams that haunted my nights and soon my days. I couldn't escape them and it wasn't until the day I saw you on the beach that I knew."

"Knew what?" I asked my voice trembling slightly.

"That I couldn't do what they needed me to do," he replied quietly.

His words struck a deep cord and I felt my heart break for him. I knew then that I truly loved him in a way that ran deeper than anything I'd ever known. A small part of me also knew that such a love was never destined to be. I wanted to speak, to say something, but the words were trapped in my throat.

Soft, mocking applause broke through the heavy silence that had consumed the both of us and we both turned in surprise towards the doorway.

"So very touching," it was Mamoru's lips that moved but it was Demando's voice that dripped with cynicism and disgust. The look of contempt faded a moment as Demando turned his attention towards me. "If only you would look at me that way, Usagi. So much pain and suffering could have been avoided. There is still a chance, you know," he extended his hand towards me, "a chance to redeem yourself, to save the people you love."

"You'd have to kill me first."

Jack's voice surprised me. There was a determination in it I had never heard before, a deep-rooted strength that gave me confidence. He stood and I resisted the urge to reach out and stop him. He was more than a fragile human; he had alluded to as much just minutes ago.

"My pleasure," Demando said with a laugh. "I've been waiting a long time for this."

"Two thousand years," Jack growled. Simultaneously both men sprang for each other and I watched as the two met in midair. It was all I saw for a moment because a blinding white light flared to life filling the room in an instant. Even after it faded it took several minutes for my vision to clear enough to witness the conflict in the center of the room. Or, at least, where the room had been. Above us an angry sky swirled and flashed with the occasional streak of lightening.

"Clever," Demando growled, clearly as put off by the sudden change of scenery as I was. "Very clever, but your parlor tricks won't keep you alive."

I swung my gaze from Demando towards Jack who stood in the center of what appeared to be a large cathedral. Or at least, what had once been a large cathedral. His typical t-shirt and khaki shorts had been replaced by garments of white over which a protective layer of shimmering armor lay protecting his chest, arms and legs from harm. For a moment I was captivated by the way his armor seemed unable to make up its mind in regards to color. First it appeared the most pristine silver and the next it was a molten gold that seemed to hold the fire of the sun itself. Apollo. God of the Sun. It all made so much sense now.

"I thought a little more room might be better," he replied clearly pleased with the way things were going. "Besides, I didn't want to get your blood all over my apartment."

Demando snorted and held out his hand. In the center of his palm a small ball of black began to form, growing larger as each second slid by. After nearly a minute the black stop growing and began to twist and stretch and then solidify. When all was said and done a long blade black as night rested in the palm of his hand. "Are you ready?"

Another bright flash of light and Jack held a blade of equal ferocity in his own hands. His, however, seemed to be constructed out of the same metal as his armor, shifting in color while emitting its own light.

"Oh," Demando said breaking the intensity of the moment. "We wouldn't want Usagi to get it into her head to be the valiant heroine." Demando snapped his fingers and a sizzling barrier of energy sprang up from the ground, spiraling in an upward arch until it had surrounded me completely.

I couldn't help the outraged scream that escaped my lips as I leapt for the barrier only to be thrown back as fire ripped through me. I lay on the cold stone for a moment and waited for the pain to recede. I felt my clothes, my skin, my hair, certain that I had indeed been set on fire but nothing felt as though it had been burned.

"Now, now, Usagi, I wouldn't try that again," Demando cooed, his voice sounding distance and disoriented. I struggled to sit up and saw Jack angrily pacing the circumference of the energy bubble. He was shouting something but I couldn't hear what he was saying. "I've made him angry. Don't worry, my dear, it will be over soon."

I resisted the urge to leap at the near invisible barrier again but the memory of my first attempted was far too fresh in my mind. I had to have faith in Jack, faith that he could destroy Demando once and for all.

I rocked back and felt something hard and unyielding in my back pocket. A flicker of hope rocked through me and I looked towards the two men now circling each other, waiting for the prefect moment to strike. Demando's attention was centered solely on Jack now. Slowly, as to not attract attention, I reached around and pulled what I hoped would be our salvation from my pocket.

The locket that held and protected the ginzuishou was old but looked brand new. I suppose that was the power of the crystal but in truth a mystery that was likely never to be solved. I opened it, peering down at the small, glittering object. Our last hope.

My last hope.