Blueeyeddevil06, thank you for being my beta and for all your help on this chapter.

Nephrite walked through the halls of D Point, feeling the energy in him slowly coil through his system. Usually, it left him with a feeling of immense power and strength. At the moment, he was feeling uneasy for the first time.

Beryl had insisted on giving him extra power before he went out to collect energy for her this time. Initially, he had been excited. It would give him an edge over Elis. But now, he wondered if there had been another reason she'd given him more power.

He shrugged off his questions, now wasn't the time for them. Now was time to focus. He collected the youma he had amassed, opened a portal, and stepped into the shopping district, releasing the youma to collect energy.

When they weren't on the attack, they could gather energy through their long tentacles like they were now—draining people and leaving them unconscious on the sidewalk and littering the street. There were three. They were large, purple, and looked like if you mixed an octopus with a gorilla.

He was pleased with how much energy they were collecting.

When the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask showed up, he smiled and said, "Right on time!" He was pleased that the time had finally come for him to prove himself to Beryl. Victory was almost in his grasp.

He looked around and noticed, as they lined up to attack, that everyone else had disappeared. They had all run from his youma, at least the conscious people.

"So, it's just you against us now? Good for you. You won't have anyone to witness your deaths."

He watched Sailor Jupiter cross her arms at him and glare, "You're so going to regret this, Nephrite."

"What do you think you're going to do?"

"I'm going to kick your ass when this is over." She then turned and said, "He's mine girls, I get to stop him this time."

Something about her called to him, just like the woman he kissed in front of the bridal store. Her declaring he was her's stirred something in him and excited him. What he said was, "Come and try to get me. I'll stop you, little girl."

She rolled her eyes at him, "Oh, I'm all woman. You'll see."

The flirting made him uncomfortable, so he looked at his youma and yelled, "Attack!"

The three youma launched out their tentacle-like arms, and this time, instead of a funnel to suck out energy, their arms all had sharp barbs on the ends. He smiled when he saw the smiles melt off their faces and the look of shock take over. That was until they all started scattering. Of course, he watched Tuxedo Mask save Sailor Moon again.

He watched Sailor Venus launch out an attack with her love me chain and rip off one of the arms of his youma. He smiled when he watched two grow back in its place.

Sailor Mercury was off to the side with her computer trying to calculate their weaknesses. He rolled his eyes when Sailor Mars had to yell at her to dodge one of the tentacle arms as she leapt out of the way. The arm made contact with her leg, leaving a deep scratch on the side where it just managed to get her. She screamed out in pain and struggled to stand as she used her computer again.

Nephrite smiled and ordered two of his youma to attack Sailor Mercury. She was injured and distracted. He would bring Beryl her body and prove himself to her.

As the youma launched their attack against the Sailor Scout, he watched in horror as Sailor Jupiter dropped her Senshi form and turned into the woman he'd kissed in front of the bridal shop. He screamed out in agony as he dove in front of the woman, taking a barbed tentacle to the chest. It pierced his lung, and he felt it filling up with blood.

He heard Sailor Mercury scream something out, and the three youma were quickly turned to dust.

"You're safe," he said, looking up at the beautiful woman. "Good, I made it in time." He then began coughing up blood. He knew he was drowning in his own blood, but he was just glad she was safe.

"Don't you dare die! Why did you do that? You…"

"You have to live. Somehow I just know that."

He then coughed up a lot of blood and was struggling to breathe. He knew he couldn't get any more words out.

Lita stared at Nephrite with tears streaming down her face. He was dying, and there was nothing she could do to stop it from happening. His skin was grey, and he was struggling to breathe at all.

Sailor Mars had run over to her and began dragging Lita away. Lita yelled out, "Leave me be! I want to hold him as he dies!" She then glared at Raye.

"I'm not fucking giving up on him yet. Move out of my way! I want to try to save him."

Lita scooted away. She was trembling. She didn't love him yet, but she knew he was her soulmate, and her heart was breaking.

She then watched Raye exorcise him like she'd done to Jadeite. Now laying on the street was a green two-inch stone of nephrite. Lita picked it up and held it to her heart.

Lita was the last to make it to Serena and Darien's apartment. When she got there, Serena's face was red. "What the hell? You could have died!"

"Amy was going to die, and he's my soulmate. I felt responsible, and I took a risk. I fought for him and for Amy."

"By giving up!"

"By trusting Mina! She said he loves me, and I used that against him. Now he could be dead." She burst into tears.

Serena hugged her, "I was so scared. I'm sure Raye did the right thing and saved him."

Lita asked, "Do you think it worked?"

"It was the only thing I could think of," Raye said. "He was about to die. I really hope it saved him." She wrapped her arms around Lita and hugged her.

"Why aren't you ordering him out of the stone?" Mina asked Darien.

"I'm waiting on Rick. I want him here in case he isn't healed."

Five tense minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and Darien let Rick into the room. "Well, long story very short," he held up the stone, "In here is Nephrite, and when I call him forward, he'll either be healed or choking to death on his own blood."

"Shit," Rick said. "And if he isn't healed, what the fuck am I supposed to do other than hold him on his side while we call for an ambulance?! This is stupid."

Darien grabbed him by the shirt and hissed in his ear, "I have no fucking clue what to do here. I need you here for me if this all goes to hell!"

Rick nodded abruptly and said, "I can do that for you, my prince. Just tell me where to stand."

When Darien called to Nephrite and commanded him to bow, just like he had with Jadeite, Rick was standing to Darien's right side waiting and watching.

To everyone's immense relief, when Nephrite bowed before Darien, he did it without the gaping hole in his chest. Something about being brought back to his stone form reset him physiognomy and caused the wound to heal.

Lita clapped her hands over her mouth and tears sprung to her eyes. She then turned and made eye contact with Raye, who smiled at her.

He was healed.

"My prince, I'm ashamed of what I've done. And, how could I ever make right what I did to Mina?"

Darien smiled down at him, "Look at me, General Nephrite." When he did, he was confused by the lack of condemnation on his face. "You were under Beryl's power, and now you are free of her influence. All is forgiven and forgotten."

He didn't dare look at Lita, "And Sailor Jupiter? Can she forgive me?"

"That you have to ask her about. I'll trust you two to talk tonight, and tomorrow we'll debrief and go over everything you know."

"Yes, my prince."

"Where should I sleep tonight?"

"The dog house," Lita insisted.

"I don't understand," he said, still not daring to look at her.

"It means you're in trouble. You can sleep on the couch."

Jadeite and Molly both made excuses not to go home that evening. Jadeite decided to sneak into Raye's room in the shrine. They both wanted to give Lita the space to talk to Nephrite that evening.

Lita felt odd standing with Nephrite finally in her place she rented with her friends. As he stood in front of her, she thought about how incredibly handsome he was. She was surprised that registered with how angry she was with him.

Still, she was angry so she shoved him hard, making him take a huge step back, "Why the hell did you do that?! You almost died, you should have died." She spun her back on him and fumed.

"I remembered you fully when I saw you in danger. I would die for you!" He yelled back. He then moved forward and wrapped his arms around her from behind, trying to soothe her. She tensed up and instantly flipped him over her shoulder and onto his back. He groaned and looked up at her, "When I can get up off my back, I'm going to kiss you."

"Try it, and I'll rip your lips off."

He sighed out, "I guess you're not ready for that banter yet. I was hoping for you to say you liked me on my back better for what you had planned."

"Ah, I heard that story about our past. To me, it's just a story. I don't remember it at all. Now, what I do remember is you torturing Mina until she passed out from the pain. I remember you draining people of their energy. But mostly, I remember you being the last one of the generals to wake up."

He stood up facing her and said, "To be fair, Jadeite didn't really do much. He was turned into a stone. He didn't risk his life for Raye," Nephrite said jokingly.

Lita pointed her finger in his face and growled out, "Now's not the time for humor. I'm furious with you!"

Nephrite grabbed her wrist, pulled her into his chest, and held her while she lashed out at him, trying to strike out at him. "No, my beautiful, fierce warrior. You're not angry, you're scared. You never could handle that emotion."

She stomped down hard on the arch of his foot and yelled, "You can't tell me how to feel!"

He just continued to hold her tightly. "I'm just telling you what you feel. You know you feel the connection we have. You don't love me yet, but something in you longs for me. I'm sorry I scared you. I was scared too. I thought I was going to watch you die from a youma I released. I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you. Even when I was evil, I needed you alive and well."

"But…"

He lifted her chin to look up at him and caressed her soft cheek, "Can you forgive me? You're being upset with me hurts more than anything you could physically do to me. I may be the last in coming back to the fold, but wait until you see my utter devotion to you. In that, I will never fail you."

Lita's eyes misted up, and she cursed that she was starting to cry, "Fucking stupid ass tears!" Nephrite chuckled and smiled at her fondly. She was so perfect in every way. "I… I can forgive you."

When he smiled in triumph she shook her head, "Don't get too cocky. It's only because Mina will be so annoying if I don't. She really wants us together."

Wrapping his hand around her, he buried his face in her hair, "Sure, that's the reason. I'll let you use that lie, for now." He breathed in her scent and said, "I love you, Lita. I will prove it to you every day of your life."