Author's Note: My goodness it has been a rough few weeks. Not just for me personally, but for all of us. All over the world people are worried about what is happening. The virus is something our favorite super hero can't fight, but while all the doctors and nurses and government officials try to get a handle on it, how about the rest of us just relax with a little bit of Sailor Moon and the whole team? It won't make it all disappear, but we can at least have a few minutes to forget.
Happy reading and good health to all of you!
Sailor Silver Ladybug
Tori
3-21-20

True Love's Kiss
Chapter Five
The First Kiss

Motoki stared at the marks on Naru's neck, his mouth open in shock. The bruising was awful. He desperately wanted to wave a magic wand and fix it. "Are you sure you'll be okay to go to school?" he asked.

"I'm sure. As long as Usagi is there I'll be fine."

Raising his brow in question, Motoki stared down at the petite red-head, unsure why it needed to be Usagi. He could walk her to school if she was worried. There seemed to be something more to her statement though. He looked over to where Umino stood by the door, obviously waiting for the little blonde to pass, then back at Naru.

"What are you saying?" he asked.

Naru bit her lip. "Do you remember having a conversation with me back when the guys first disappeared? What did you say your theory was?"

The guys were taken because they have some sort of power the Negapeople want," he said automatically.

"What if I told you they missed someone?" Naru asked.

"You mean Usagi?"

"Hai. She looked different. I means she was wearing some sort of costume and no one else seemed to recognize her, but I knew even before the cat said her name. It was Usagi. She's different though, stronger. Sailor Moon," Naru's voice trailed off and she seemed to be looking inward. "She saved me. Saved all of us."

"How did you know?" Motoki asked, curious more than anything else.

"I just did. She had the same aura. I don't even know if that's the right word. You know how Usagi is. The way she looks at you and suddenly you feel like everything is going to be okay. Sailor Moon felt identical. Her eyes. It's all in the eyes."

"Hai, she does make everyone feel better. So what's the plan? Are you going to tell her you know?"

"I think it's for the best. I don't want her to worry, but at the same time I think she needs to know. I think she needs to be told we all have her back."

"We definitely do," Umino said. "She's coming now, but uh, did anyone know she has a sister?"

"What?" Naru shrieked. "Her sister died. Don't talk about that!"

"No," Umino said, then pointed out the window to where Usagi walked with a girl wearing a similar uniform. The second girl looked so similar to Usagi that Motoki's jaw dropped and he stared as they grew closer. Umino opened the door and called out Usagi's name. Almost at the same instant both girls veered toward the Crown as though they were of one mind.

"Hey guys!' Usagi said, her voice bubbly and bright. The little black cat she'd saved was laying over her shoulder. The other girl had a white cat in an identical pose.

"We need to talk to you," Naru said, grabbing Usagi's arm. "Good to meet you," she added, tugging the other girl as well. "Time to have a talk."

Usagi's eyes widened suddenly and she stared at Naru. "You know," she whispered.

"I know," Naru confirmed. "Don't freak out. The guys know too."

Umino locked the door with a loud click and tossed the keys back to Motoki. "We're set," he said. "No one else is in the building Usagi," he added. "We checked before we brought Motoki in on it."

Usagi smiled at all of them. "Told you Luna," she whispered.

The black cat let out a soft sigh. "You were right Usagi," she answered. "I wouldn't have thought it possible."

Naru seemed to take the talking cat in stride but Motoki and Umino both jumped a little, never having heard it before. He could feel his jaw dropping further and stared at Usagi in wonder.

"Everyone, this is Minako. She's like me. Sailor Venus."

"Hi guys!" Minako said, her voice happy and bright. She had slightly brighter blue eyes, more azure than cerulean. Her hair was loose and hung down past her bottom, but it was lighter than Usagi's and far shorter. The girl was perhaps and inch or two taller and had more muscle and healthy weight, whereas Usagi was too thin and getting thinner as more time passed without answers.

"This is most of the core group," Usagi explained, looking at Minako. "Reika isn't here because she's visiting her parents, who are on a dig in Egypt. Ami had cram school as you know. We've got to get her and Rei together," she added, "and the girl you met."

"Hai," Minako nodded. "I'm glad to meet you guys," she said. "You understand no one else can find out though, right?"

"Right," Motoki agreed. "Does this mean my theory is right?" he asked. "Do the guys that were taken all have powers of some kind?"

"We think so," the white cat said. "I'm Artemis, by the way. It's nice to meet all of you. I want to thank you all for taking good care of my wife after she was attacked by those awful boys."

Luna leapt to the ground and Artemis followed. He rubbed against her side, purring loudly. It was a but more than Motoki could take and remain on his feet. He clutched at the counter as he walked to a stool and sat heavily. "So, what's the plan?" he asked when he had found his voice again.

Usagi sighed. "You know how I've been sort of infatuated with Mamoru's picture?" she asked.

Motoki nodded. He'd been the first to notice it. She paid his picture the same amount of attention as she did her brother and cousin's photos. He'd teased her about it once, telling her that she and Mamoru were polar opposites which meant they needed to date. Usagi had teared up at the time and told Motoki she dreamed about him.

"Minako feels the same pull to Kunzite. And several others have that same instinctive pull and dreams about the other guys. We know of three more. If we can find everyone drawn to the fliers then we will have found the other Senshi. If we can find all of them we can come up with some way to save the guys. I don't know how I know, but it's true. I can feel it." Usagi looked more animated than he had seen her in weeks. It took a moment for Motoki to realize what the change was. Hope.

Nephrite couldn't stop pacing across from the high school. The students were getting ready to leave for the day. The girl he had been following would soon be leaving. Anticipation welled up inside him. He couldn't wait to see her again. He was supposed to kidnap her and take her to Queen Beryl to be turned, but he didn't really feel like it. All he wanted, if he was being honest, was to grab her and hold her, kiss her until they were both panting for breath, and then protect her from everything and everyone on the planet. His queen included.

A commotion at the doors brought his attention away from his daydreams about Makoto, what a beautiful name, and back to the present. Several boys were pushing a younger girl off to the side, towards the bushes. Nephrite didn't have a good feeling about their intentions. In fact, before he could think it through he was racing out of the shadows and across the street. He got to the boys just as they pulled her into the center of a clump of bushes, but he wasn't alone.

Makoto, the girl he couldn't stop thinking about, was right next to him as he burst through the foliage to the younger girl's defense. "Get away from her!" he growled.

There were four teenaged boys surrounding the girl. Makoto was bristling beside him. "I told you what would happen if you did this again," she hissed. "Go," she added, to the girl, pulling her out of the grip of the pair who were holding her arms. "Go straight to the principal and tell him what happened. Don't stop until you're inside. Understand?"

"Hi. Thank you Makoto-sama," she added the honorific, sounding awed that the older, taller, stronger girl had come to her rescue.

Nephrite kept silent, but moved to stand directly beside Makoto and cracked his knuckles, readying himself for a fight, though he didn't think it was entirely necessary. Hopefully the idiots would see reason and stop their attacks.

Makoto apparently didn't feel the same way. As soon as the girl entered the building she shifted into a fighting stance. Immediately Nephrite could see why. All four of the other teens attacked at once, two going for her while the pair that had held the girl went for him. Nephrite reacted instinctively, punching the first one and sweeping his leg under the other's feet. Both went down hard. By the time he'd finished Makoto had knocked one of the others out and had the fourth up on his tiptoes, hand behind his back in what was obviously a painful position.

"I told you if I ever caught you trying to kiss a girl without her permission again I would get you," Makoto hissed. "Did you think I was lying? Or did you just assume all girls are weak and helpless? Well I'm here to tell you mister, we most certainly are not!"

"Kino!" A man's voice shouted.

Nephrite turned to see a middle-aged man racing towards them. The bushes had been trampled so he had a rather clear view, and he looked angry. Very angry. He wasn't entirely sure what to do, but one of the men tried to get up. Nephrite put a boot on his back and held him down.

"I called the police," the man said, panting a little. "I'd really hoped after we expelled Yodu that you four would straighten up," he snarled. "Women aren't property. They aren't toys. They're people."

Sirens could be heard in the distance. Within a few moments officers were walking up the sidewalk. Nephrite used his shadow to hide his face. Others would still see him but they would forget him almost instantly. All except Makoto who was staring at him now, eyes wide and shimmering as though she might cry. Did she feel the same pull towards him that he did with her? If so, could he find a way to get the kiss he was dreaming about so desperately?

After the other boys had been taken inside the building by the officers, the principal turned to look at Makoto. "I'm sorry," he said in a soft voice. "You know I went to bat for you. This is your third strike. It's unfair. It's damned unfair, but I can't have you here anymore."

Makoto nodded her head woodenly, but she looked ready to cry.

"There is a place you can go," he continued. "I told you my brother works over to Juban public high school. It's only a little ways away. As a matter of fact, it's closer to your apartment. My brother is the principal there and told me he could take you, but that you have to try calling on him before stepping in unless there is no other choice. Okay?"

Makoto nodded, looking a little less devastated.

"You're a good girl Makoto-chan," the principal added. "I know the only thing you've ever tried to do is help people. This is the only thing I can do to help. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Makoto whispered. "It's more than anyone else has ever done. I'm sorry if I made things harder on you."

"I'm not," the older man said softly. "You saved that Emica and that American girl from something awful, and Kei today. You did the right thing protecting them."

"Arigato," Makoto said.

The principal turned to him. "Why don't you walk Makoto home," he suggested. "I have four boys to expel and press charges against."

"I will," Nephrite said, wrapping his hand around hers. The moment they touched a spark flared between their palms. He couldn't help staring at Makoto. She was just so incredibly beautiful. He could hardly breathe she was so perfect. "Hi," he said, wanting to kick himself for the lame introduction.

"Nephrite," she whispered.

Shocked, he stared at her even harder. "You know me?" he asked.

"Kind of?" she didn't sound sure. Reaching with her free hand, Makoto grabbed something from her bag and unfolded a piece of paper, handing it to him. "I know who you are, and I feel..." she didn't finish the sentence. "There's something about you. I guess I feel like I know you."

"It's the same for me," Nephrite said, though he looked down at the paper. He saw himself and all the other Dark Generals. "What is this?"

"One of the missing boys has an older sister. She sort of refused to let the police drop your case. Said she wasn't giving up until she brought all of you back home to your families. She and her friends started this. I volunteered on the phone lines a few times. But then I started dreaming about you all the time."

"You dreamed about me?" he asked.

"Yes. We were dancing. I was wearing a really long dress, and let me tell you, I've never worn a dress as far back as I can remember. Maybe as a baby." She shrugged. "We were very happy about something and you were holding me and dancing with me. We were laughing."

"And then?" Nephrite asked, feeling like he could almost remember something.

"Then I wake up. I hate that the dream feels unfinished."

Nephrite nodded. He squeezed her hand gently. "Lets get out of here," he said.

"Okay." Makoto was quiet for a moment. "How did you escape?" she asked.

"I didn't," he tried to explain. "I mean, not really. The queen sent us out to find the Senshi. I was doing what I was told to do, looking for them and stealing energy, and then I saw you."

"When?"

"A couple days ago. And ever since," he added, pulling her a little closer as they made it to the sidewalk, "you're all I can think about. I don't really care about what the queen wants. All I can think of is..."

Nephrite sighed. It probably wasn't a good idea to tell her he had been daydreaming about kissing her.

Somehow they found themselves in the park, though he couldn't remember most of the walk. He just remembered the feel of her hand in his, the sound of her voice washing over him, and a feeling of peace and contentment he had never known. Whatever life he'd had before being taken was a fuzzy dream. This was reality. This was special. Makoto was everything.

They sat under a tree with wide branches and stared at each other, their hands still clasped together. Makoto looked nervous. She bit her lip and stared at him from under her thick eyelashes. The way she looked in that moment would be burned into his brain for all eternity. She wasn't trying to flirt but the look she wore was seductive none-the-less. He wanted more than anything to lean forward and kiss her, but he restrained himself. The last thing he wanted was to push her away.

"So you have to catch the Senshi for this queen?"

"Yes. And steal energy too, which hurts people. I hate it. I don't want to go back. I think the others feel pretty close to the same way, but I can't be sure. None of us really talk when we're in the Negaverse. Any of the Youma could rat us out."

"Don't go back," Makoto pleaded.

"I don't want to," Nephrite admitted. "But I don't know where to go. If I go back to the orphanage she'll only find me again."

"Then we need to find the Senshi," Makoto said. "Maybe they can help. Until then you can stay with me. I live by myself and no one would think to look for you at my apartment."

"You would be willing to help me, even knowing what I am?"

"And what are you? A Dark General? I don't think so," Makoto scoffed. "That queen stole you and made you do what she wants somehow. Now we just have to undo it."

"Thank you," Nephrite whispered. "I don't want to be a bad man."

"I don't think you are. I think you are very good. Would a bad man have tried to help that girl? No. There is good inside you. That queen couldn't get that."

He felt a tear streak down his face, but he wasn't ashamed of it. Makoto's kindness and trust meant absolutely everything to him. He couldn't have explained why. Perhaps it didn't matter why. He only knew he would do anything to stay at her side.

Suddenly Makoto lunched forward and took his face in her hands. Before he could even blink she had pressed her lips to his own. He sucked in a breath, sharing hers, and kissed her back. Warmth and joy filled him. A light seemed to surround them both, bright green with silver and gold mixed throughout. He felt whole. Not sure what was happening, but trusting that it was good, Nephrite pulled Makoto closer and slid his tongue into her mouth, tasting the flavor of some sweet drink she must have had before leaving the school. It was fruity and he liked it. He also liked her cherry lip gloss. And the way her hair felt with his hands speared through the strands.

Makoto let out a little sigh as their lips parted, then stared at him, her eyes huge. "Your eyes have changed," she said softly.

"What?" Nephrite asked, wondering if he'd lost all of his brain cells, or just most of them.

"Your eyes. They were a sort of murky brown. Now they're blue." She ran a finger over his cheek bone. "They're gorgeous."

Nephrite smiled. He didn't know why, but he threw his head back and laughed. He hadn't done that in a long time. Then he reached for her hand again. Touching her made him feel whole. They sat there I silence for several minutes, but slowly memories began filtering into him. His parents deaths, his time in the orphanage with Kunzite, Nephrite, Zoicite, and for a time Mamoru. His school, the apartment he shared with the others, except Mamoru who had a place of his own. Working at the observatory.

Makoto's dream came to him and he could see it in his mind as though he was there. They'd been dancing. He and all the others had a pact that they were going to stop being afraid and ask their soulmates to marry them. All five had proposed on the same night, during a ball. There had been others there as well. Shingo and Haruki, though they'd had different names, and a girl, Haruka he thought, who had been just as nervous about proposing to her soulmate.

Looking up into Makoto's eyes, he realized something had changed. He grabbed at his chest. There was no pain. No pull from the Dark Kingdom. Nothing dragging at him, trying to get him to return. He was free!

"Come on Ami!" Usagi called from the top of the steps. She had raced ahead and was bouncing in place, looking excited. Ami wanted to know why she was so happy all of a sudden.

"I had cram school," she reminded her friend. "Mom won't be happy."

"Just tell her we got a lead and she'll understand," Usagi said, grabbing her arm. "I have some people I really want you to meet. Come on."

"Where are we going?" Ami asked as Usagi pulled her to the family quarters at the back of the Jinja. "We're going to get in trouble."

"Nope. I already called Rei and asked if we could come." Usagi turned and waved at another blonde who was sitting on one of the benches with Usagi's cat and a white one that had the same crescent shaped mark on the forehead.

"What is going on?" Ami asked.

"Remember what we talked about with Zoicite and Mamoru?" Usagi asked.

"Hai," Ami said, blushing.

She'd told Usagi about her dreams because they wouldn't go away and they were driving her insane with things she didn't really understand. Dances and engagements and a life on the moon! It was insane. When Usagi had admitted to very similar dreams she'd known there was something more to it. Maybe she was about to get some answers.

"Rei!" Usagi called, startling Ami. The blonde had stood up now and was walking toward them with another girl, whose hair was just as long but was a black as a raven's wing.

"Usagi-chan! I'm glad you're here. There is something I wanted to talk to you about." Rei's eyes were serious and full of an ancient wisdom Ami could hardly fathom. She knew everything was about to change.