Blueeyeddevil06, thank you for being my beta!

Lita had no clue what was going on with the revelations of Raye's father. No one wanted to intrude on her time with Nephrite, and they could do nothing right now anyway.

She was walking hand in hand with him through the park. They had spent the day getting to know each other, and Lita was having a wonderful time.

When she pulled out a container of cookies that she'd made, it brought her immense pleasure to watch his face grow pale and for him to tentatively pull out a cookie. She laughed out loud at the look of complete shock that registered on his face when he discovered the cookie was delicious.

"Yes, I made them," she quipped.

"I wasn't going to suggest otherwise."

She rolled her eyes, "You were thinking it, though. The guys told me I used to be a horrible cook, and you'd make them eat everything I made. In this life, I'm in culinary school. I've been a good cook since I was little."

He grabbed the container of cookies from her and pulled out another one. "Well, then I'm eating all of these. After our last life, I deserve them. You have no idea how horrible of a cook you were."

She laughed and said, "Well, then I look forward to cooking for you. It's sweet that you used to eat my food anyway."

"Trust me. I had an iron stomach. You liked to experiment, and when you discovered Earth foods, it got worse." He ate another cookie and smiled at her. "These are incredible, Lita."

She blushed and looked up at him through her eyelashes. She liked that he was taller than her. Not many men were. It made her feel more feminine.

"How bad was it?"

He looked at her very seriously when he said, "You liked to rhyme when you cooked, don't ask why. I have no clue. You thought sardines and nectarines sounded like fun words and belonged together." He let out a laugh and said, "Kunzite didn't manage to keep that one down."

She blushed all the way to her ears, "No wonder they were so surprised that I can cook. I can't believe I made them eat that."

"To be fair, you didn't. I did."

She smiled wide at him. "It's fun finding out about our past. It's weird, too, since I don't remember any of it at all."

He grabbed her hand and laced their fingers together. "What matters is that we're together. And I want you to fall in love with me all over again. I need you in my life."

He sighed out sadly, "I'm so sorry I was last, Lita."

"You almost died for me, actually. If it weren't for Raye, you would've. I know you would do anything for me."

"But, I don't want to show you by almost dying. I want to show you how I feel about you by the way I live. In the way I love you. Death isn't a gift. It was what I was willing to face to make sure you survived."

She stopped walking and pulled him so that he would look at her. "They were right. You are broody."

"But I failed you and Darien by serving that witch for so long."

She gave him a wicked smile, reclaimed her hand from him, and then shoved him hard with both her hands knocking him on his back in the grass. "We kicked you and your youma's asses constantly. I think we ensured there wasn't any lasting damage. And as bad as torturing Mina was, it snapped Kunzite out of serving Beryl."

"I sure end up on my back with you a lot, Lita," he said, laughing from the grass.

She shrugged and said, "Don't get too excited. I wouldn't expect to be naked any time soon. I want to get to know you better first."

He got up and stalked towards her, wrapped his arms tightly around her, and then swung her in circles. He said to a giggling Lita, "Take all the time you want, warrior-princess, I want your heart more than I want your body." He stopped swinging her, gave her a lust-filled look, and said, "I do want your body too. Don't ever mistake that. You're so incredibly sexy."

"I'm too tall to be sexy."

He cupped her cheek and looked into her eyes, and said, "No, you're perfect. You have no idea how sexy I find you." He then kissed her jaw and whispered, "I don't want a little woman I could break. I want an equal that I can be uninhibited with. Someone who's a good match for me. You're perfect."

"I heard that wrestling used to turn us on…."

"Lita, sex in this life, when it happens, will be on our current terms. It won't be based on the past. You don't have to feel any pressure."

She shook her head and said, "Actually, it sounds exciting. I'd like to try it sometime. I think… I think I'd really like that."

"That's up to you, Lita."

"I would argue it's up to both of us. You have to feel comfortable too."

He barked out a huge laugh, "Anything you want, I'm up for. I don't think you understand. I'm your slave, Lita, I always have been, and I always will be. I'd give you anything. Even eat your horrible cooking in the past, happily. It made you smile. That's all I cared about."

They continued walking through the park. They were walking in almost the exact place where many of their battles against each other had happened. Now it was a place where they were coming together, and she was falling in love.

Stephen knocked on the door to Rick's bedroom and said, "Hey, some guy named Jadeite is here to talk to you. Do you know him?"

Rick opened the door and nodded, "Yeah, he's dating one of Molly's friends."

He then walked to the living room where Jadeite stood. He took one look at him and said, "Okay, let's go for a walk." He knew the conversation that was about to happen couldn't occur in the apartments in case anyone overheard.

When they were out on the sidewalk, they veered towards some back streets that were mainly deserted, and Jadeite said, "I found King Elis."

"Shit, that's bad."

He nodded, "It's worse than that. He's Raye's father."

Rick halted mid-stride. He looked at Jadeite and said, "And they aren't freaking out because he's not fully awakened yet. They figure she has time to keep an eye on him."

"Got it in one!" Jadeite grumbled. "It was her idea too."

"Of course it was, she's not scared of much, and she feels like she has to prove herself to people."

"How do they not see that?"

"They do. Do you really think Serena wouldn't recognize that? You're not seeing something, though."

"If you say she can protect herself, I'm going to knock you on your skinny ass!"

Rick threw up his hands in mock surrender, "I wasn't going to say that."

"Then what the fuck! She shouldn't be -"

"Useful?" Rick interrupted.

"What?!"

"Think about it. Yeah, it's dangerous, and I get why you hate her continuing to spend time with him. But don't they need to know when to start expecting attacks again? Do you want everyone to be taken off guard? If it was any one of the generals in that position or even Darien, would you hesitate to take this advantage?"

"But it's Raye!"

"Exactly. It's the woman you love, and you're sick over the danger she could be in. But it's important information she can get for them. Isn't it?"

Jadeite's shoulders sagged, "I thought I could intimidate you into telling me what I want to hear."

"No, you didn't. You knew I would understand feeling helpless in this fight like you do right now with her and her father. You can't step in and protect her for the first time in your memory. She has to do this on her own. It's the only time I can really empathize with you. You were right when you pointed out that you could protect Molly better than I could."

"So, what do I do?"

"Let me help you this time. My family has money and is politically active. I can get on the guestlist for his next event. It's a fundraiser at the museum, and my father is on the board there."

"Will you take Molly?"

"If I do, that will split my attention. I can take her, but it's probably better if I go alone."

"What if her father tries to set the two of you up. You're the son of -"

Rick didn't say a word to cut Jadeite off. He just gave him a stern look. "I love Molly. You know that. Suppose he wants to set us up, all the better. That will make her even more useful to him."

"He thinks she's pregnant with my child. He may try something stupid."

"Scratch that then. New plan. I go up to them both and mention being good friends with you, and then I proceed to act like her dating you makes it more likely my family will write him a check."

Jadeite nodded, "That could work. But then you'd have to write one to him."

"No, that's not how this works. I make him work for the check. I mention it's a possibility, and he'll make sure I'm on every guest list until the ink is dry. With our money, he'll know that we will expect to be treated as an honored guest at everything. Especially for the amount that I'll hint at. Just make sure he goes full evil before I actually have to write the damn check. I hate the idea of the money going to fund that asshole's campaign."

"Yeah, he was terrible in the past."

Rick shook his head, "No, I mean now. He's a horrible father to Raye. Did you know he was having sex with his mistress when his wife died?"

"No, she stopped telling me things about him when I almost went and beat him up the other night. Damn. Where was Raye?"

"With her dying mother. Her grandfather was there too, though."

"I don't know how I'll ever show her grandfather how much I appreciate him. He was there for her through everything."